


Lost Charge

by Impiousimp



Series: Stargate SG-1: Lost Charge [1]
Category: Original Work, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Bonding, Gen, Heroism, Military, Minor Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill, Mistaken Identity, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Other, Psychological Trauma, Superheroes, Whump, doppleganger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25846276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impiousimp/pseuds/Impiousimp
Summary: Individuals are abducted to participate in an interdimensional competition, and one of the participant's rebels resulting in her banishment to an altogether unfamiliar reality at Stargate Command.   Perhaps not entirely unfamiliar as one Samantha Carter bares a striking resemblance to her mother.Awkward.  Especially given the last thing Kylee Harwood had done with her mother was slam the door in her face.Top that off with the fact that she's exactly what the military is looking for in the fight against the Goa'uld and it's just a recipe for trouble.If only her kind of trouble hadn't followed her...
Relationships: Jacob Carter & Samantha "Sam" Carter, Samantha "Sam" Carter & Jack O'Neill, Samantha "Sam" Carter & original female character
Series: Stargate SG-1: Lost Charge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875466
Comments: 19
Kudos: 16
Collections: Stargate





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Had some story beats in the last version that just wasn't quite working so I decided to give it another shot from the top. Things are flowing nicely and I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> Chapter 1 is a fair bit of character set up for the original character Kylee and other things, SG-1 is featured but they really kick into high gear in chapter 2. Wait for it.
> 
> I'm primarily doing this as a means to teach myself how to write a narrative that makes sense and also just to have fun. I do enjoy drawing illustrations which again is more a means of me teaching myself to better depict scenes, but I really don't have the time to construct completely polished works for this piece.
> 
> There's going to be a mix of sketches, to fully rendered images, the quality of which is based on my discretion.

'Achoo!'

Samantha Carter felt the sneeze coming, turning her head into her sleeve and letting it go. Odd, because she wasn't much of a sneezer, nor did she have allergies but it was well within the realm of possibilities to find something she was actually allergic to. More likely it was the dust being knocked off the ruins above them by some agitated crows. Big ones too.

"Someone thinkin' about you, Carter?" Jack teased as he relaced his boots. Just like the Colonel to bring up an old wives tale like that. Sam flashed a grin and shrugged.

"I don't know, Sir. If I sneeze every time someone thought about me in this galaxy I'd probably be on antihistamines. We're pretty popular these days." Sam joked back. Although their notoriety wasn't necessarily with their allies.

"You'll have to bond with Daniel over kleenexes if that were to happen. Speaking of which, you figure out what's the story about these ruins?" Jack said, raising his voice to get Daniel's attention.

"I'm starting to! The language is a derivation of what scholars believe to be the root of the Gaelic language group. That doesn't mean much considering how we don't have a direct translation but it might be close enough that I can get a rough idea of what these writings say. More importantly, it's what is on the rock faces around the corner." Daniel explained rapidly as he started moving towards the tall hill that these ruins were nested under. The hill was covered in trees, but in many areas, it seemed scarred, and while there was green there were entire areas with no trees left growing.

When Sam turned the corner, she saw why. It looked like something out of a fairy tale storybook. One queen vs another, one with black hair and one with red, with ravens behind them. Sam's eyes were drawn towards the top of the mosaic, where something like a somewhat abstract looking Goa'uld mothership behind the one with red hair.

"I think two Goa'uld fought over this planet. From the looks of it, the people had revolted and came under the support of this figure." Daniel replied.

"Not a Tok'ra?" Sam asked hopefully, though she had doubts about that. More than likely it was an internal territory conflict.

"It does not appear so," Teal'c replied, gesturing to the jaffa indicated behind both figures with his staff. "However it appears it had happened many years ago."

"Any idea who they are?" Jack asked, loosely holding his P90, his attention on the path they had taken and surveying around. Teal'c likewise was also paying more attention to the area around them.

"I believe the Raven is the symbol used by the system lord Morrigan." The Tok'ra had shared their intelligence of the system lords, at least in regards to 'whos who' of which Goa'uld they were most likely to encounter. While it was useful, the SGC was still left wanting as far as meaningful tactical intelligence.

"Carter, stick with Daniel," Jack said with a frown. "Teal'c n' I will head out to do a recon patrol. We'll hike out to the excavation site for your mineral samples after we get back."

"Yes, sir," Sam said automatically, glancing down at the image again and taking in the details. It was looking to be a pretty straight forward recon and given their recent adventures, it was probably good to have an easy one for the books. The possibility of a Goa'uld encounter had the Colonel on alert, but so far there was no indication that anyone had been on this planet for thousands of years. Sam somewhat wished there were people here to put all of this in context. She wasn't an archeologist, but the painting of the two women in the conflict had stoked her curiosity.

* * *

'Don't you walk away from me, Kylee.'

The words still stung, replaying in her mind even a day later.

Her mother had given her an earful, more than that really but it wasn't something Kylee Harwood really wanted to think about. Was she a bad daughter? Maybe, but nobody was keeping score. Yes, of course. She could have been more mindful of her mother, and even a little more obedient and conscientious. At the same time, her mom could have been more understanding and accommodating. Then again, it was probably asking far too much of her.

Considering how she just found out her daughter was a metahuman and that does take some time to process. She pieced it together, her mom, from gumption and wit that came with being a state attorney. Then there was the matter of Kylee's grades and finances which admittedly, were not in the greatest position.

Her mom was footing all the bills her scholarship didn't pay for so there was an issue of accountability. Her grades had slipped, but there were forces at work that were beyond her control. The resulting conversation had been rather heated.

She always knew that her team's actions might eventually have consequences, but Kylee never thought it would be so personal. Never thought she'd wake up one morning with cryptic texts telling her to get to the house immediately, or the heated argument she'd find herself in once she showed up. She wasn't surprised that her stepdad was 190% behind everything that her mom said, although in the 'intervention' he proved himself to be reading into the meta hysteria. Her mother at least didn't go that far. That's why she didn't tell her dad, who had known her secret for months now, that her mom found out. She didn't want to hear it from him, her confidant, that her mom was right.

When Dusty, her little brother, got wind of it too, he started going full fanboy and drew some fanart of her hero persona, Hightail. If nothing else, it brightened her day this morning when she saw it. Kylee loved him, even if he was a little goober. The cat was out of the bag now, but as long as she was going on patrol, why not return the favor in the form of a selfie?

The intrepid speedster practically flew up the side of her favorite building in the skyline and pulled out her phone to take a picture. It was something she shouldn't have had on patrol, but given the night she had, she didn't mind breaking the rules. Holding out the phone, she snapped a few photos, flashing a big grin in one and winking in another. Kylee then turned it so she could see the results.

"Oh…" She raised her brows at the photo she'd taken and pivoted, but not before getting hit with a gust of wind that knocked her clear off the building.

It was Zephyr, another speedster like her but who could manipulate pockets of wind instead of electricity as she could. One could say he was a blowhard. The dude had some hipster/punk mohawk and considered himself a mercenary while dressing as a motocross Xgames reject. That said, as self-centered as Zephyr was, he was appreciatively not complex and tended to get straight to the point.

That meant trouble, for her mostly, since she was the only one fast enough to keep up with him.

Gravity was doing its thing, pulling her to the ground. Speedsters, however, had a knack for defying gravity. Terminal velocity was a joke. She angled herself around, like the gymnast she was, and began running her legs. Thankfully she was close enough to the wall to get traction, which slowed her descent. It tended to be rather tricky to pull off, but she'd practiced it before and knew how to lean her body. She sped up, zipping back up the building only to see Zephyr taking off.

Hesitating, she wondered why the green bean was trying to pick a fight with her, until she realized that she had dropped her phone. A quick run about later, the only conclusion she could come to was that Zephyr had taken it. From there, she raced off in pursuit of her foe.

Zephyr had an advantage, given that he could reach his top speed without trying, whereas Hightail had to generate that energy via kinetic absorption, but the gap always closed quickly, and her top speed was much faster than his. Which meant he only had the edge for a short amount of time.

While heading in the general direction she thought he'd gone in, she realized that he'd circled around and started running at her side.

"Taily! You drop something?" he asked, teasing her phone out in front of her and pulling away, yards ahead with his speed when she grabbed for it.

"Hand it over, y'jerk!" Hightail said, dashing for him and throwing out a small arc of electricity, with just enough power to stun just in case someone else was nearby and she missed. She had to be careful with that, she knew.

He evaded, she pursued, growing ever faster as she drove forward, generating more and more energy, but he was still running ahead, taunting her with every jab and evasive maneuver. A sound cut through their bickering as they ran, a supersonic shriek that even they could hear.

They both paused their argument, glancing towards the sound. What looked like a meteor hurled towards the ground heading for a nearby city plaza prompting the girl into hero mode, breaking off the chase as the safety of the people took priority over her personal life. Besides, she could always brick it remotely the moment she got home.

She targeted a mother and her children first, moving them a block away, the guy in the hotdog suit came next, deposited quickly on the other side of the road followed by nearly a dozen businessmen, some of which weren't exactly pleased with her actions but it beat becoming street pizza.

It crashed into the middle of the plaza only an instant after she pulled the last man out, sending rubble and debris into the air along with lots of dust. Diligently, she raced around warning people to stay away until the police came given that meteors falling like this out of nowhere wasn't exactly a common occurrence, she wasn't about to let these folks take a chance. For her part, she just hoped it would be a more interesting headline than her scuffle with Zephyr, and that it didn't turn out to be more eventful. Seriously, who had time to deal with space blobs '? This definitely fell under the rather large spectrum of sci-fi nonsense she just didn't want to have to deal with.

Casually dropping out of speed and skipping a step, Zephyr stopped on a dime next to her and grinned as though he had any business being there. Was this jerk just messing with her for kicks or was there some ulterior motive? She regarded him with a long-suffering sigh.

"Yo Tails, you-Whoa…" He'd said, looking down into the crater. Ky saw it too, at first glance it looked like a meteor, but the outer shell cracked and fell off revealing an artificial construct beneath, about the size of a beach ball. And like the genius he was, Zephyr went straight down to check it out.

"...You know, Zeph, you might grow a little extra 'something something' if you get too close to that thing." Ky needled, watching him cautiously since it was his sorry butt she was going to have to pull out of the fire.

Would it be so wrong to let him get vaporized? She didn't want to buy a new phone, but that wasn't as bad as her personal life in the hands of a villain. No, no, that wouldn't be the heroic thing to do, so she'll have to save him.

"Or I start glowing in the dark, and get rich, which is more likely, smartass?" Zephyr yelled back with a grin.

He really wanted to get blown up, didn't he? Zeph went to stick his hand out, and while Kylee was still debating the ultimate ethics of allowing Zeph to proverbially stick a knife into an electrical outlet, the idgit reached out for it. Luckily, it didn't take more than a second to get an answer to the question of whether it was dangerous, or not so lucky. A robotic hum erupted from the machine under the rubble followed by what looked and sounded like a scifi phaser. It hit Zephyr in the chest and it knocked him off his feet. She, too, barely managed to avoid being shot even from her position at the edge of the crater. No small feat when up against a speedster.

Another blast went off and Zephyr cried out.

Not so lucky in the fact that now, Kylee really would have to bail the loser boy out and save his sorry ass. As much as she detested her long-time rival and villain she wasn't about to let him be tortured by that thing's defense system.

While keeping an eye on the meteor, she navigated down to the crater and modulated her speed, darting for Zeph to grab him and drop to the ground to avoid another shot aimed at her, but when she roes to her feet it got her in the shoulder.

"Ah!" Ky yelled as she took the blast, then pushed up, almost dropping Zephyr before he managed to start moving his legs and they ran out of range together. At a glance, it seemed very advanced, which was saying something considering that she was enrolled in a research and development program at her tech school, and she had encountered all kinds of laser weapons in the field ever since she'd gotten her powers. It wasn't all too uncommon to pull out a weapon that didn't deal with typical projectiles and the police were experimenting with nonlethal energy weapons these days. Then there was the superhuman arms race, to come up with technology to shut down people with powers. That was all kinds of fun.

It's just she'd never seen anything that sleek, that compact, without any visible panels and perfectly round.

A police officer approached them and she raised her good arm. "Keep everyone back. No idea what it's going to do." Most of them listened, it was just her lucky stars she was one of the superheroes with good PR.

Turning her attention back to Zeph, he was stunned, though rapidly gaining sense about him. She took that as an opportunity to frisk him for the phone, and once she found it, she pulled it out and moved to stand only to feel a hand moving up her leg.

"Wow, Taily, if you wanted to get down like that you shoulda said something earlier." Ky stared at him, static crackling off of her before she pointed her finger at him and pulled the proverbial trigger. His body seized as if being shocked by a taser and Kylee withdrew away from him, brushing herself off.

"I should have left you down there, you creep," she very nearly growled at him, her hand still crackling with energy.

Grumbling, he climbed to his feet and stared her down, and for a moment she debated letting him go so she could deal with the new problem.

"What is it?" Zephyr asked.

"A weapon, obviously," Kylee started, then looked back down the crater. "Looks more advanced than anything else I've seen, but it can't be your trap, so who-"

"Uh, why would I set a trap just to get caught in it myself? You'd have to be some kind of idiot," the screwball said, and Kylee shot him a look.

"You are some kind of idiot, you're right," Kylee said with a smirk then shook her head. "It's not your style anyway. I'm going to try to deactivate it." She'd deal with Zephyr after the current situation was dealt with. As problematic as he could be, he was, at this point, still least concerning in the hierarchy of evil around here. This piece of junk was definitely a higher priority.

"Hey, I-" Zephyr turned his head upwards, then pointed. "Uuuuh."

She heard an engine rumble, saw the shadow, and whipped around. A space ship? Crap, it WAS a trap.

It fired an energy blast at them, but she darted to him to knock him out of the way, and while they avoided it as dust and debris flew up everywhere. It was almost like they weren't even trying to hit them. Stormtrooper much?

To make matters worse there were bystanders now, most of them with cell phones out trying to get footage to go viral on the net. Great. Mom was going to love that.

Ky turned sharply to see a large form approach her from the dust cloud, then rushing at her with a chunk of debris, slamming it into her. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a human punching bag due to her ability to absorb kinetic energy, she might have been curb-stomped. Might have even broken her jaw. She was lucky, her goggles weren't.

Knocked back a few paces, she righted herself and sent energy coursing into her fists. Once, twice, and the third time she hit him she jumped into the air, bringing both fists down to create a concussive kinetic strike with her powers. The quicker she took this guy down, the better. The alien snarled, snapping its hand out to wrap around her thigh, and before she knew it she was flying backward into the ground.  
  
She absorbed the impact, taking the energy to throw a kinetic 'flashbang' at the monster's face and slip out from his grasp. 

The dust cleared, revealing their attacker's hulking form. Tall, muscular, grey skin with orange markings. Sort of looked like a mix between a dragon and a gremlin with a face like that and those reddish-orange eyes. He grinned wolfishly at her when he got to his feet. It wasn't inconceivable that this guy could have been a metahuman, but the aircraft made her think he was alien in origin.

Jumping to her feet, she loosened up and flexed her hand, allocating some of her power to her hands so she could zap this goon. "Alright big guy, how about you tell me what you're doin' on our planet before I kick you off of it?"

He barked a laugh. "Haha! You are a spunky one, but I would love to see you try, human!"

This was the sort of attitude she didn't need to deal with today. She darted forward, and Creepzilla aimed a projectile weapon at her, looked like bolas, so when it was fired at her, Ky jumped and spun, nimbly dodging and pressing on to close the distance.

Kylee drew her arm back and jumped at him, but something struck her in the back, hitting her with such an impact that she overshot her attack and tumbled to the ground. She didn't stick the landing, but she managed to fall as safely as she could.

What she hadn't counted on was the bola coming back like a boomerang or heat-seeking missile. It snapped around her legs and she was down, flat on her face. Ow... She could still feel it, whatever it was. She reached back behind her to grab at it and found it moving downwards, then coiling around her legs. Wha- No! Rolling onto her back she reached down to the snake-like device and tried to use a pulse of electricity to blow it away. Instead, the energy she put out was fed back into her resulting in excruciating pain. The pain caused her to curl into herself, stunned enough that the robotic cord managed to wind itself around her knees, and up to her hips. She managed to sit up only for her to have to wrestle it away from her torso, but the weakness in her shoulder from that blast earlier, her arm gave out and in no time, she was immobilized.

The cord managed to pin her hands to her chest and wind around her palms, and her neck as well. For all the good it did her, struggling only earned her another shock of her power being sent back into her, but the panic of the very real prospect of being abducted was starting to overrule reason.

For whatever reason, maybe to not lose his favorite rival to torment, or maybe to pay her back for the two times she had saved him in the past few minutes, Zephyr came back on the scene and sent a gust of wind in their direction. Ky was glad she was close to the ground else she'd have been blown away. Didn't seem to so much as phase the dragon-faced, gremlin eared cretin.

It probably wasn't a good idea for him to come back. In his condition, Zephyr's injuries were far worse than hers having been shot multiple times by the turret, this guy was just toying with him. She wondered if their enemy was just that tough or if they had been so poorly mismatched against him. It didn't take more than a few blasts thanks to Zeph's weakened state for him to go down as well.

The alien walked over to her and lifted her by the cord, and she struggled despite the jolts, but her endurance waned. The bundled speedster was dragged over towards Zephyr who was scrambling to get away from their assailant. He was picked up by his neck and held up in the air. Zeph kicked and tried to pry the alien's hand off of him. All that seemed to do was please the big space dragon, as he grinned in a way that reminded her of cartoon villains. Hungry eyes surveyed his catch before he began to drag them both towards the ship.

Even while barely conscious, Kylee had seen the people who were looking on in a mix of terror and excitement. People with their phones out to get the latest meta fight for cheap internet views. This was going to make the evening news, wasn't it? Knowing her mom and her dad were going to see this, to know she'd been so decisively defeated… It was hard to take. Despite her efforts, her last attempt to free herself with an electric pulse ended in her seeing stars.

When she woke up, there were still stars. This time, real ones right outside the ship's cockpit. Stunning and beautiful, far as the eye could see. It didn't excite her as it should have, and while Ky wanted to appreciate the wonder of being in space, she knew what it meant. They were in space. Far away from anyone who could help them.

Next to her satZephyr, looking like a dumb, sad, broken dog. He was conscious as well, his mask and goggles pulled from his head, arms and legs bound. They didn't say anything as they felt the engines reverberate beneath them, the ship preparing to take off.

The Earth grew further and further away and Ky looked on with a tightening of her throat as she realized exactly what was going to happen. If she had only listened to her mom and faced the music like she should have, she wouldn't be here right now. Wouldn't be going to wherever the hell dragon-breath was taking them.

The engine came to life and propelled them into the starry blackness of space.

* * *

The Infinity Cascade. That's where that alien ended up bringing them. It was effectively a 'Nexus', a place where the delicate borders of the realities converge. There was a massive facility, taking advantage of the easy access to thousands of universes, which made it easy to access their participants. These 'recruits' and 'volunteers' were all forced to be entertainment for the masses of spectators brought from all over the multiverse. It seemed like villains from near and far, but maybe that was naive. It was all about feats of strength, wit, cunning, they were involuntary serving as warriors, champions, and no better than court jesters.

It was humiliating, dangerous, and Kylee was pretty sure she's died at least once.

The facility itself looked like a collection of space stations, with an open-air colosseum in the middle set in the middle of what could only be described as a cosmic storm with energy flowing off into the depths like waterfalls. Forcefields held it all together, which was the only way they could hold it all together, or it would probably be torn apart by entropic forces, or something. That was Kylee's best guess, she was an engineer, not an astrophysicist.

They had the spectator stands to loop around the arena blocks, which were hexagonal honeycomb-style areas, with all kinds of different environments, anything they wanted to throw at them. After experiencing what equated to the set of a 'survivor' reality show, with the desert island, scorching sun, the complete package. There were no limits of what they could produce. And they had plenty of unwilling actors to fill the stage.

Above it, all stood a citadel like structure; the well-fortified command center. It resembles a flying saucer at least in regards to its shape. Its shell was obsidian and uninviting, but considering how the massive jumbotron screens usually drew the attention and play by plays being shown at any given time, most people didn't seem to notice.

Kylee spent much of her idle time observing from her window between her matches. There was no real way to tell how much time had past and it wasn't like there was a clock in their room. She counted the days, but when weeks turned into months she just sort of stopped bothering. It wouldn't help her any to ruminate on time.

Their quarters, which she shared with Zephyr, were about the size of a small apartment, and the only privacy they had was in the washroom. On the far side of the room, they had the window, and a TV showing the latest matches or challenges. On the third wall, there was a panel which was usually a one-way mirror, but on the occasion they allowed the competitors to interact with their audience. It was really hard to gauge who they were, how many of them were just the multiverse's oligarchy, privileged and rich, standing next to those with a more sadistic bent. Like, seriously, there was this spandex-clad man dressed in a butterfly outfit with a crown on his head. What the hell was up with that?

If the powers that be were trying to send her some kind of message about the importance of family, or this was some kind of cosmic karma for some crime she wasn't aware of, she got the message, but it didn't do her any good. Not here.

Zephyr wasn't much help, and he seemed split about getting home and enjoying the spoils of victory whenever the pair of them performed well. Sometimes he called her a party pooper, others he was banging his head against the wall trying to scheme his way out. He wasn't entirely stupid, at least when it came to certain skill sets and strategies he was fairly cunning, but his personality gave her the impression he was a vapid airhead with nothing between his ears. This is why when she found out he was trying to cut a deal with one of their interested onlookers she was wondering what the hell he knew that she didn't.

None of that mattered considering where they had ended up. The big gilded prize that they were all playing for was their freedom. Supposedly only a handful won the right to return home, or even stay as they wished to be treated like champions, hall of fame, and never losing status even if they were defeated in battle. Nobody knew if that was a real thing or if it was just a lie to motivate them. Losers got dropped a rung on the ladder and received fewer privileges, so the motivation to maintain your status was pretty strong, even if you didn't ask for anything beyond your basic needs.

Bottom line was that she wanted out. She wanted to go home, and at that point, she had to try something else. The scientific method would have to do, at least in the testing phase, if this were all just a big cable channel then what would happen if she stopped being entertaining? It started out with simple acts of defiance, failure to respond to orders or ignoring them completely and doing her own thing, all in effort to be as uninteresting as possible. That earned her and Zeph a trip back to the starter quarters, and the most basic of sustenance. Space goo, in tubes. Sure, it had all the calories they needed but it tasted awful, sort of like the gruel from Oliver Twist.

As much as Zephyr hated her for it, her and her backward sense of heroism that quote: "didn't mean a damn thing here", they had least learned something which was more than they had before. That while they were circus monkeys performing for amusement they did have a very short leash, and the program had to continue. Why? Who knew. If nothing else, they had a wrench to throw in the system now.

It took about a week to get back to being able to be in the common area, to be in the place where they could communicate with the other warriors. It took even longer to convince the others of her plan, to follow her to what could be their last fight. They were heroes, most of them, and they had to do something or risk being stuck here their entire lives. Kylee wanted to go out fighting.

When they finally decided on a plan, they took it to the arena. They stopped fighting each other or participating. Acting only when it meant life or death for themselves or the other, Kylee and Zephyr taking the responsibility of playing defense for most of their allies. It was mostly a matter of fending off rivals who were onboard with the agenda of the powers that be, or they thought the only way out was to cooperate. They had too much to lose to believe in their hail mary scheme.

Their lack of cooperation landed them in the citadel to be punished. She expected a spanking, a slap on the wrist. Sadly, that wasn't the case at all. Instead, they were brought to the head honcho. Discount elder god, Predator-Chutulu. At least that's the name she'd come up with, because how else should she describe this semi cyborg squid lord? It was maybe thirty feet tall, Cthulhuwannabe, Lovecraftian fan character made by some edgelord on the internet. That didn't even begin to describe the smell of the thing, cloying and disgustingly sweet, like rotted flesh, its skin was a patchwork of mottled, putrid green that made her want to vomit.

Was it too much to ask to just be granted a voyage home? Were they worth that much to this guy? This thing that called itself the 'Host.' If she knew this was waiting for her at the end of this gambit she'd have just stuck with the program like a good little pawn. Ky glanced at Zephyr, who looked about as scared as she was because they'd just been brought before the big bad and there was no guarantee they were going to be fighting their way out of this.

Being this close to the sorry excuse for a Lovecraftian creation, she could barely hold her breath as the stench filled her lungs. The body seemed to be partly mechanical, as were his arms, as the base at the shoulder seemed to be a tentacle attached to some kind of bionic arm, and his hand made of the same calamari like flesh, only rough like a shark's hide.

Zeph didn't seem to like the scene himself. "Tails, I'm going to remind you that this is your play - your idea." He was unusually subdued, the arrogance and assholery faded over the weeks or months they've been here. She'd come to appreciate his comradery, but he was right. There was no backing down now, not for her. If anyone was going to face the consequences for this, it would be her, if not the rest of them.

"If I'm going out, I'm going out fighting." She said to her former enemy turned ally. "Anything is better than being part of this."

"Including death? Look, like, I get you just love to play the hero, but what's the point if he just kills us all?" Zeph asked.

"Hopefully he won't, then we'll know something we didn't yesterday," Kylee replied in a hushed tone. She righted herself and walked forward and sucked in a breath. No more running. The only thing she could do was face it.

"Hey! Squid face! Do you hear me? We're done! We're not playing your stupid game anymore!" Kylee stepped up and yelled with all the conviction she could muster.

The voice, if you could call it that, more like nails on a chalkboard mixed with a howling typhoon of noise, but there wasn't any sound. It was all in her head, and it was agonizing.

"You dare…?" Was all it said with chilling indifference as though they were insignificant specks. It was enough to send shivers down her spine.

Ky didn't expect fanfare, but she was at least secure in the fact that the people who chose to come on this suicide mission weren't shaking in their boots. The tension made it especially hard to double down, and she knew she was asking a lot of these people to back her up, but she looked back at them with a brief grin then turned back to look that bastard in the eyes with all the defiance she could muster. "Yes!"

No turning back...

Its eyes glowed

They were blown back by a force, some unseen psychic force, like being hit by a whip. She managed to roll back to stand and watched as one by one, the others were levitated into the air with some kind of pink energy enveloping them all. All except her.

Singled out as to make an example of? That was something she had considered could have happened, of course again, even if she went down as a martyr the others might be able to take something out of this, or it'll shatter any hope they ever have going forward. In hindsight, she was beginning to doubt her plan had any merit. That didn't mean Hightail was going to bow down and take whatever he was going to throw at her. So she ran. She used her speed to avoid his advances since they let her use her powers. Dodging his attempts to grab her, to crush her, to flay her with his bladed tentacles that were hiding under her his armor pads.

Gross.

After a few rounds of 'try and catch me, he finally got her with some kind of white laser that shot out of the palm of his hand impaling her in the leg, drawing her in like a yo-yo. She screamed from the searing hot pain, her cry cut short when the fingers closed around her torso and squeezed. Winded, she opened her wet eyes to look at her foe.

Digging deep from the depths of her stored energy, Ky let it all go at once in a last ditch effort, an indiscriminate discharge of all of her electricity. The monster snarled when it shot up his arm with what the girl assumed was a mild annoyance, but the fact that it reacted at all, that it responded to her attack gave her hope. She made it flinch. Looking back to her friends, she met with Zephyr's eyes. ' You CAN hurt this thing. Figure out how,' she thought.

The voice came again, but this time there were no words, only a sense of pleasure and amusement from the pain he was afflicting on her. She could almost sense the satisfaction he had in her suffering. It made her sick, almost physically nauseated at the aura he was putting into her, and she roared out in frustration, struggling and fighting in the monster's grip despite the pain.

The monster savored every moment and made sure she knew. It gave her a reprieve for a few moments before she felt him lifting her higher. Towards the area above his throne. She'd studied the citadel for a long time, she'd long since figured out that there was some mechanism in this place that held the place together, or channeled energy here somehow. Maybe it even fueled the place, she had no idea, no chance to put her theories together much to her chagrin.

It raised her closer and closer to the matter stream, and her eyes widened with fear, not knowing exactly what was about to happen to her. Vaporized instantly? Probably not considering how this guy seemed to like his suffering served to him cold and extra spicy. Then again it wasn't like she hasn't been revived from the dead before, but this seemed like a very specific punishment she was about to endure or suffer through before an untimely end. The final curtain.

Time seemed to slow, similar to the effect she could employ by moving at sonic speeds, but this was more of a dynamic effect. She could just barely make out what the others were saying, calling out her name, slowed down to the point where it was almost comical. Above her, the energy swelled and pulsed, and she began to see images in her head. Images of herself in different, alternate timelines, realities where she never got powers. There were perhaps one or two where she didn't have the confidence to use them, choosing instead to stay on the sidelines and be a mousy support team member. So many different variations, the ebb, and flow of the multiverse was more than overwhelming, it was a swarm of endless possibilities. She screamed, crying out, begging for him to stop, before she was plunged inside.

And then it all went dark.

* * *

Jack saw the disappointment from nearly a mile away once he saw the two heading back from his vantage point. Daniel had that slight slouch in his shoulders, like a kid who didn't get to stay at the park. As much as Jack would have loved to indulge Daniel's curiosity, there really was no further purpose to the team's presence but in all honesty it just looked like the weather was about to turn sideways. The wind picked up about a half-hour after Daniel and Teal'c left for the ruins and like hell he was going to get stuck in another typhoon while Carter and Daniel futzed around.

"You could have given me ten more minutes," Daniel called out as they reached a comfortable shouting distance.

Jack raised his brows at the Archeologist. As much as he enjoyed watching a good storm roll in while the sun beams still dotted the landscape, he could feel the change in pressure in his bone, but the low rumble of distant thunder informed his decision. "Yeah, sure, because I want to be stuck here when that thing hits and the game gets rained in. Let's GO campers!"

Carter was on her feet, hauling the strap of her case over her shoulder, nodding to Daniel. "I'm pretty sure they'll be sending another team to this planet, given the trace amounts of trinium. You'll get another chance to look at those ruins, but given how unstable the ground was on our way up here? It's best we get ahead of this storm."

Daniel turned his head upwind, squinting while the wind picked up after sharp clap of thunder in the distance. He had to hold his hat on to keep it from blowing off. "Yeah, aah… on second thought, let's go."

* * *

The passage of time meant nothing as Kylee… drifted. There wasn't really another word for it. . Her awareness was spotty at best, but the fact that she had awareness at all as a disembodied… for lack of a better word, 'soul', lost in the multiverse, that was pretty neat. She didn't mind it so much in this state, didn't mind much at all. Just being aware of having awareness, and then drifting back into oblivion was almost preferable to the broken memories she had of 'before'.

Kylee didn't much mind the fact that she didn't have to feel more than vague thoughts about her state of being, or perhaps passively dream of these other possibilities she was peripherally aware of. The dreams came and went, the visions of what might have been existing, but immaterial as she was. It didn't matter considering she was only a disembodied mass of… something that was once a person.

Was this what being a ghost felt like? Must have been, and she had to admit to herself, despite the fact that she was no longer among the living, it was kinda cool just being able to float around and occasionally consider big questions. Was what she did worth it? Did the others make it out? Was anyone going to come get her? There was also an inordinate amount of time dedicated to useless trivial considerations such as the chemical structure of the ingredients of pop tarts and why a supposedly advanced society allowed their children to consume what was essentially glucose tablet cardboard and sugar gel.

Thankfully, such thoughts tended to slip away as quickly as they had come.

At some point, a light came into her perception along with a face. A beautiful face that she couldn't help but appreciate, very lovely. And this lady in white, offering to return to corporeal form? At least that was the general idea, as the woman didn't actually speak (which was likely a good thing as she didn't have ears at the moment). That's what she usually was, corporeal. As in, not this. Sure. It would be nice to go back to that. She agreed to do it. Agreed to take the kindness of this woman in white and allowed herself to be sent back. Back to Earth.

And all at once, she was real again, physical. Stumbling out into a large, concrete room. Energy pulsed behind her, people, blurry people stood in front of her. Everything seemed so bright and vibrant she couldn't focus quite yet, and her senses hadn't returned either. Kylee didn't exactly have any expectations but she certainly didn't expect whatever this was. All in all, she just felt some intense feeling of relief, but she couldn't understand why.

She took a step forward, and relearned a fun fact about gravity (that it existed), toppling forward only to be caught by a strong arm from a very large man. Through the ringing of her ears she heard shouts of 'Cease fire!' and other things she could barely make out. The world spun, but she tried to force herself back to her feet with the aid of her new friend, the quarterback lookin' dude with a gold stamp on his forehead.

Kylee was happy to cling to him, something stable and warm for the moment while she got her land legs back, letting her brain catch up to her new situation. Ky's mind became a little clearer, her thoughts reminding her of who she was, that she was on earth, that she was home. Then she looked up to see who was there, men with guns, people staring at her with shock and awe. Not exactly a terrific reception.

That was when she noticed the other three people standing nearby, watching her carefully. Two men and a woman with blond hair and a striking – and all too familiar – face. The dizziness was getting to her, and her jelly legs had turned into mush. Ky felt herself begin to go down and knew she couldn't do anything to stop it. Instead, she reached out towards the familiarity, barely able to focus on that long enough to speak one word before the world went dark.

"Mom?"


	2. Chapter 2

SG-1 and 'routine' didn't tend to go in the same sentence. There was a reason they were the first team, and not simply because they happened to be assembled first. No, they were the response team, the go-to team, the model team that took on the hardest missions

So, when a normal recon mission turns out to be just that, normal, Jack was actually a little disappointed. The uneventful missions were like training missions in basic recon, so if one of them screwed up a soil sample or even got them out of order, they'd have no real excuse. O'Neill was leading a team of professional busybodies so should a sample or photo be mislabeled or misplaced it would be a sign that something was actually wrong with them. Still, they got back on schedule, and the reports would've been routine had this girl not shown up.

The planet was uninhabited based on their recon, and while there had been ruins that Daniel had drooled over, there had been no sign of recent Goa'uld activity at all. Now, if this scrappy looking kid hadn't come through from the same wormhole as his team did, he'd have written it off as a wash.

He was surprised, not to speak for the rest of the room, but he was. Really. Considering how she wasn't dressed in the usual attire of folks they meet out in the galaxy. She had what looked like a kevlar vest with striking neon lightning bolts accepting the shoulders and hips with various shades of blue and teal on the rest. Boots were blue too, and the goggles. Like something out of a comic book.

"Hold your fire!" He yelled, and the SFs lowered their weapons, just barely. Jack could see it in her eyes. She didn't have the strength to do anything, much less pick a fight.

Jack O'Neill eyed the young woman as she tried to use Teal'c as support and pull herself back to her feet. The blue eyes turned to him, then shifted to Daniel, and finally Carter. About then, her legs began to give out, and she reached out towards her as she fell.

"Mom?" she croaked as she collapsed.

Teal'c lurched forward yet again, managing to grab her carefully and lower her unconscious form to the ground.

For several seconds, they heard nothing but silence after the gate shut off. Then Jack turned to his 2iC.

"Carter?" he said, knowing full well that he couldn't keep all the incredulity out of his voice, "Anything you'd like to tell us?"

Sam, for her part, looked just as surprised as he felt as she blinked back at him.

"Um, no, sir."

Jack looked between the girl on the ground and the Major a couple of times.

"You sure?"

"Yes, sir," she responded dutifully. Major Carter turned her attention away from him and dropped to her knees, checking the girl's pulse.

"She's just unconscious," she announced, then reached to brush away the mop of golden blond hair that was shrouding the girl's face. She removed the goggles to reveal the girl's sleeping face as though she was trying to see for herself why the girl called her 'mom'. There was an uncanny resemblance, he had to admit. A couple of SFs entered with the medical team and they addressed the Major, who stood up as the medical gurney was rolled in.

"Can we approach?" one from the medics asked.

"I do not believe she is currently capable of posing a threat," Teal'c replied. That was good enough for him so he gestured to them to go ahead.

The Major stood, and Jack caught the corners of her lips tightening with apprehension as she watched the girl be drawn away. Not that it was to her detriment but domestic issues weren't exactly Carter's forte, and really it wasn't a 'Carter' thing. This, though, Carter looked more confused, almost uncomfortable in her own boots. That was always a little unsettling to see.

It was just a sign to give the woman her space to figure things out because he knew she would, which meant he'd be having to make sure that this kid was on the up and up, both for Carter and for the SGC.

Over the intercom, General Hammond asked what was going on.

"We have no idea, sir," Jack replied, as nonchalant as he could pull off. "Our girl there just appeared out of thin air."

"She wasn't from the planet then?" Hammond asked.

"No, sir. Not to our knowledge."

"The planet was uninhabited, sir, and looked to have been that way for a long time," Major Carter added with a look at Daniel.

"At least a couple of centuries," the linguist confirmed.

A pause.

"I see," Gen. Hammond responded. "Then what happened?"

SG-1 all exchanged glances.

"Frankly, sir, we have no idea," Jack said when no one answered.

* * *

"What are we dealing with, Doctor?" General Hammond said as he walked into one of the medical isolation room's observation deck. The debrief of the mission was enough to clue him in that this was not expected or deemed possible by any members of SG-1. They were alone, at least they thought they were. That left many unanswered questions and that did not bode well under his watch. Especially when it concerned the security of this base, and whether or not it could happen again. However, the more pressing concern was a matter of who the girl was and what her intentions were.

"She's stable, though her blood work indicates she'll be in recovery for a while. It's her vitals that worry me. Her heart rate is twice what it should be, and she has a low-grade fever. Moreover, she seems to be emitting a low-level EMF. So far, I can't find a source. It seems as if it's emanating from her cells which is why we've moved her in here." Dr. Fraiser replied.

The members of SG-1 were also in the room, Carter hugging herself as she gazed down into the room where the girl slept.

Jack looked back to the doctor. "And I expect that that EMF thing has nothing to do with the lightning all over her clothes? This isn't the first time we've had to deal with superpowers before with those damn armbands, on the other hand, she's our first superhero."

General Hammond didn't bother to respond to that. Dr. Fraiser looked a little putout, but, being the professional she was, she also didn't acknowledge Jack. Instead, she opened her folder to pull out a test result she'd obviously gotten after handing over the paperwork to her superior officer. "As for the DNA results," she paused and glanced sympathetically at Carter, "it's a fifty percent positive match with Major Carter."

The Major noticeably stiffened, one hand rubbing her knuckles in a nervous habit as General Hammond looked over the paper to see the results for himself. Once he'd perused it to his satisfaction, he handed it to her. She only hesitated for the briefest moment before reaching out and accepting the paper to see for herself.

"Is it possible she used the Stargate to time travel here?" Daniel asked as he observed his teammate, trying to reason his way through this odd circumstance. General Hammond appreciated his ability to accept a problem and immediately come up with an explanation for it. It was one thing he greatly admired about their resident linguist.

Obviously unable to hide her discomfort at the situation, Major Carter shook her head, never taking her eyes off of the paper in front of her. "I don't think so. She would have had to gate in her time, during a solar flare which is next to impossible to predict. Further, she came in through the same wormhole we did." After a few more seconds, she handed the paper over to O' Neill who gave it a cursory glance over, raising his brows.

"What about the quantum mirror?" asked Daniel.

"Didn't we destroy that?" Jack asked.

"Yes, but what if there was another one?" Daniel countered.

"Then that would be annoying." Jack replied, turning to Carter. "Carter, why don't you go poke some holes in that theory."

"Well, sir, it's another thing we can't rule out yet. We could send a team to P3R-233 to ensure the absence of a second mirror but realistically if the mirror was created by the ancients as we think it is, then it is potentially possible another device exists somewhere. It could be on any planet." Sam replied crisply but knit her brows.

General Hammond acknowledged the expert's observations with a nod before turning to the leader of the team. "And you are absolutely sure there was nobody else on that planet with you?"

"It was completely uninhabited, sir," O'Neill replied, looking up from the DNA results before passing them on to Teal'c, who glanced over it and then passed it on to the last member of their team. Then the Colonel turned to his second in command. "And not that I want to ruin a special occasion, but congratulations Carter. It's a Teenager," he said with his usual temperament, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It worked. Major Carter shot him a dry look, but she didn't seem nearly so tense anymore. Then she smirked at him and shook her head.

Then Teal'c spoke for the first time. "Could this not be some Goa'uld trick?"

Jack's expression turned dour as he looked over at General Hammond. "They have played games with us before, and they've got a lousy history using kids against us." No one liked the sound of that.

Thankfully, Dr. Fraiser shook her head. "Medically, I haven't detected any naquadah, and the lack of a symbiote leads me to believe it's something else entirely." Well, it was obvious that she hoped so, at least. Not that anyone could blame her. Even bringing the idea up brought unpleasant memories. It was, after all, her own daughter whom the Goa'uld had tried to use as a weapon.

"Suggestions?" General Hammond asked, looking for opinions before he decided on anything. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate his best team. The government did that often enough as it was.

"Sir," the Major spoke up, "We should call my father in. The Tok'ra have technologies that can look deeper into the molecular structure for discrepancies our medical devices just aren't capable of. They could possibly check for sabotage or evidence of previous experimentation that our equipment may have missed. There has to be a reason her genetic profile is that close to mine."

General Hammond nodded sharply. "Agreed. I don't want to take any chances. Not this time." Jack was right. The Goa'uld play dirty and wouldn't hesitate to send a trap in the form of a young woman.

"Also, among her possessions there was also a small device which may contain some data about where she came from," said the Major. "Right now, it's our best lead."

"Do it. Doctor, notify me immediately when she regains consciousness. Meanwhile, we'll get in contact with the Tok'ra."

* * *

"Unscheduled off world Activation," Sergeant Harriman Announced over the blaring alarm of an off-world activation. "Tok'ra IDC."

General Hammond took the last step down to the control room and gave the command to open the iris for their incoming traveler. Sam, having been told that the Tok'ra would send her father as soon as he was available, was waiting in the gateroom. She smiled fondly as the familiar face of her father stepped through the gate.

"Hey kiddo," Jacob smiled, planting a kiss on his daughter's cheek and they exchanged a hug. "Sorry it took so long. I came as soon as I could."

"It's good to see you, Dad."

After a moment, they released each other and turned to exit the room as the gate shut down.

"So what was it you needed help with?" Jacob asked.

"Well," Sam hesitated a moment. "I think you'll want to see that for yourself."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "Well that's not ominous."

"It's just... difficult to explain," she replied, a little frustrated at the whole situation.

Jacob offered an intrigued look at his daughter, but he didn't press further as Sam led the way to the infirmary where the girl lay in the observation room, still unconscious since her arrival two days previously. Daniel, for now, was standing vigil over the girl as she lay sleeping.

Sam handed the file to her father and watched him closely for a few moments before her eyes turned to the monitors. Occasionally the screens distorted in response to the electromagnetic field the girl was producing. Sam lightly brushed her fingers along the skin of the girl's arm and received a slight shock to which the major recoiled. She had to concede the point, there was a good chance the Colonel was on to something when he started on about superheroes given all the evidence that was piling up.

"These results…" That drew her attention back to her father, only to see his head bow down and his eyes close. Selmak was taking over.

"If she is kin to Jacob, and therefore to you, Samantha, I should be able to detect it."

Major Carter nodded, but this seemed like a formality, other than the practical test they had called Jacob here for. He could confirm their DNA test and look for any abnormalities, tampering. They had to know. She...had to know. She reached for the Goa'uld healing device and handed it to her Father.

"Would this help?"

"It would." Selmak responded.

Doctor Fraiser approached the side of the bed, checking the girl's vitals. The blond lay asleep, but it did not look very restful as she turned her head and clutched the blanket while flinching, then let out a small breath.

Selmak paused just short of the bed before he observed the girl, then walked around to the side to examine her more closely. "I do sense similar physiology to Jacob, and therefore to you, Major Carter. I cannot feel anything that would indicate experimentation on the level you've indicated."

The Tok'ra activated the healing device. After a few minutes, the Tok'ra lowered the device.

"If there have been any artificial, purposeful mutations, I cannot detect them."

"That's… good." Sam said, her tension lifting as one of their more sinister theories was checked off.

"No, but it doesn't seem likely based on anything Selmak can think of. Where the heck did you find her?" Jacob asked.

"More like she found us. Somehow, she came through in the same wormhole as we did. I still haven't had a chance to finish the gate diagnostic analysis." Sam replied, sighing softly.

"It seems Selmak did note some odd irregularities, though I stress, he doesn't recognize it as Goa'uld." Jacob replied, then put a hand on Sam's shoulder as if to soothe her, giving it a squeeze.

"That could account for the EM field she's producing." Sam replied, tapping one of the computer monitors that controlled the biometrics. The screen flickered.

"Entirely possible. It seems to be permeating her cells." Janet said, taking out a small magnet she had retrieved and placed it near the girl's arm, and it was repelled.

"Interesting. But it looks like my timing couldn't be better, she's regaining consciousness." Jacob replied, watching as the young girl began to stir, gripping the blankets tightly as she roused herself from her unconscious state.

"I agree," Dr. Frasier said, turning her attention to the BP and heart monitor. "Her values are climbing... quickly." It was obvious by her tone of voice that she didn't like that. Sam and Selmak exchanged glances, then jumped as the girl began twisting and turning under the covers.

Sparks flew out of the BP monitor screen as circuits overloaded from a sudden fluctuation of the EM field.

She cried out, sitting up before pushing back into the wall behind her, pressing herself against it and pulling her arms up to defend herself. She'd been cuffed to the bed, though the long-chain allowed for more liberal movements as opposed to the kind of restraints they'd use on a prisoner.

From the way she squinted, it wasn't just because of whatever had scared her. For several seconds, she just breathed heavily, looking utterly terrified, lost and confused.

"Hey. It's okay. You're safe now," Dr. Frasier said in an attempt to sooth the girl.

It seemed to work, and the girl lowered her arm slowly, cautiously, as if not daring to believe the words. For several seconds she just sat there, staring at Dr. Fraiser before looking around in disbelief, tears forming in her eyes. The outpouring of emotion stunned Sam, as it was clear that this girl had faced something horrible, and was stunned that she had somehow survived intact.

That alone made Sam's heart skip a beat. What the hell had happened to this kid?

* * *

"Hey. It's okay. You're safe now."

Kylee didn't recognize that voice, it wasn't what she'd expected. Disbelief and curiosity convinced her to lower her free arm, leaning against the frame that she was handcuffed to as she realized that the view meeting her eyes was not the one she'd expected. From what she could tell, she lay in a hospital bed, which was very likely in a hospital. She almost couldn't believe it, how had she gotten here?

She continued to search her immediate surroundings, squinting from the far-too-bright light as she tried to adjust to it. Her eyes landed on a slight woman who was clearly a doctor the way she was dressed, taking her hand as well as putting a hand on her shoulder. They locked eyes and she hushed her in a soothing tone.

"It's okay," She repeated, and Kylee finally caught a breath from her panic, deer in the headlights moment. She let it out shakily and barely allowed herself to relax into the pillow. It was then that the reality of everything sort of hit her all at once and she slipped back into the bed, hands combing through her hair in utter disbelief.

"Oh God...I" The words slipped out before she could do anything else, and they sounded like more of a sob than anything. Shakily, she tried to rationalize it, tried to trick her distressed mind to calm down and take in the details of the room. No, this wasn't a hospital, not with cold concrete walls, and an observation window. The room suddenly seemed much more oppressive than it did a moment ago and she shrunk down into the bed, feeling her throat tighten. Her eyes turned to the people, people who she could hopefully relate to, and she landed on a familiar blond with blue eyes.

"Mom…?" Wait. No. The girl stared at her for maybe longer than what would have been acceptable, then turned her eyes down, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "What… who are you?"

* * *

"Where the hell am I?" the girl managed to croak, then looking wide-eyed at the rest of them, then began to cry, her resolve broken down into distressed sobs. Janet took it upon herself to act as a buffer for Sam, and pulled the girl towards her so she could let it out, scared and panicked as she was. They both needed to process everything. Sam had that look in her eyes, the sort of face that said she had no idea what to say or what to do, and that uncertainty made the doctor uncomfortable. The emotional outpouring began as the girl began to piece together that this place wasn't what she thought it was.

A few minutes passed, and the girl drew away from Janet, running her hands through her hair, clutching handfuls of her wild locks. Her hair was cut to a bob length but seemed to defy gravity as it fell forward after having been tucked behind her ears after she was cleaned up. She shook her head and sucked in a breath of air to try to regain some composure.

Finally, she spoke, her voice soft and painfully earnest. "Why am I… what's going on?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Jacob said.

"I…" She shook her head and frowned. "I dunno."

"What do you mean?" Janet asked gently. "Do you not remember how you got here?"

She shook her hand, the universal gesture of 'so-so', then reached up to her cheek to wipe away her tears. Brave girl, but all biases aside she didn't expect any less from a 'Carter'.

"Everything's fuzzy. Nothing makes any sense, which brings me back to 'where am I'"

"You know who you are?" The doctor asked and reached to examine her more closely. "Hold still a moment."

Janet used a flashlight and flashed it into her eyes to check for any sign of concussion just to be sure. "Do you know your name?"

"Uh.. yeah. Of course." Kylee said, pulling away immediately in protest of the light in her eye. She hesitated, turning her head away somewhat shyly. 'I'm Kylee."

"Kylee, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few more questions. What's your birthdate?"

"Uum, April 25th, 1998," she said self-consciously based on her body language, eyes glanced away from the doctor and exhaled slowly, trying to force herself to be calm. Her hands shook subtly, but Janet spotted it with a keen physician's eye.

With the answer Kylee gave, Sam seemed more perplexed than before, and Janet could almost read her mind. It was like she was checking off another one of their theories of the list, or reaffirming one.

"Do you remember how you got here?" the astrophysicist asked. They locked eyes and both of them had a look of wheels turning in their minds. It was honestly very surreal.

"I… I'm sorry I don't. I can't. Like having a word on the tip of your tongue but it's a memory. Jeez..." She said, gripping her hands into her hair. "I know who I am, my favorite color, lyrics to the Beatles, -" She paused, trying to find a measure of time fitting her lack of understanding. "-God knows how long."

Whether or not she wanted to remember was another point entirely. Of the possibilities of mild amnesia due to trauma, or avoiding it, Janet had cause for concern. The only thing she could do for the moment was ensuring she was looked after and observed, with lots of bed rest.

Janet nodded and frowned, then took the girl's hand. "Don't force it, it'll be better if it comes to you naturally."

Kylee nodded and bit her lip, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sooo, my questions are basically the same as yours. Whowhatwhenwherewhy. Not gonna lie but the 'why' might be tricky."

* * *

Kylee. Sam ran the name through her mind a moment, really just trying to imagine having an infant in her arms, becoming a mother. She met gazes with Jacob who gave her a knowing, sympathetic look before Sam shrugged. Her father wasn't exactly being subtle about his feelings, but that aside, she did feel a pang of emotion in her heart whenever she looked at the girl. It was more an acute awareness of the 'what if' the girl represented. That she either never had the opportunities she had in this world or that she gave them up to raise a daughter.

Then again, when she thought too hard about it, her thoughts traveled to her romantic failings in the past when she was younger, more naive, and more trusting. The thought of Captain Jonah Hanson being her husband made her stomach turn into knots. Luckily, she didn't see herself with him, not in any possible variation of this reality. Even if it was technically possible, she wouldn't saddle a kid with that.

She wanted to ask so many questions now. When, how, who was her mother really and what was she like? How much like her was this other Samantha Carter? Who did she actually marry? What year did she travel from?

It started to fall apart when she said she had no idea what a Stargate actually was, but she was a civilian, so it made a certain amount of sense that she wouldn't know.

She'd eventually opted to leave the room, excusing herself and headed straight for her lab, returning to her workbench where she had left the device. To her it reminded her of some of the alien devices they've encountered rather, or something out of a sci fi convention than an actual piece of Earth technology, but when it booted, the logo of a stylized A, Andromeda Halo 6 came on the screen, perfect clarity aside from the cracks on the glass. The delicate inner workings did seem to be that of earth technology extrapolated somewhat, as she recognized several of the components, but they had been reduced in size. Fifty years ago a computer took up an entire room, and this could fit in your pocket. It was amazing.

"Carter!" Sam looked up to see Jack loitering in the entrance as he often did when she was working on a puzzle, or spent too long working on one. She'd barely been here an hour working on this, but then she'd also been working on trying to crack the security for almost two days. She can understand the basics of Goa'uld technology but somehow, the firmware on this device and it's security algorithms were giving her a run for her money.

"Kids say the darndest things. Why just five minutes ago I heard her prattling off about dimensions and time and space between mouthfuls of hospital food."

Sam couldn't stop herself from the slight smile in response to that, because honestly the thought just struck her as entertaining. "I should probably be surprised. You know, since an interest in science, or the military could have easily skipped a generation."

"Oh, well, it might've. For one you've never mentioned Star Trek in all the time I've known you." That quip made her flash her teeth in a small smile, but he took to leaning against her desk and looked at what she had been tinkering with. "Have you figured that thing out yet?"

"Programming a workaround has been a little more complex than I'm used to, but it's coming along." And as simple as it would be to ask the girl for help Carter was determined to crack it herself. It was more for the peace of mind, and time to really put things in perspective. "To be honest, sir, if you're going to ask how I've been feeling I don't really have an answer."

"Last time you said you needed a couple of hours," Colonel O'Neill folded his arms in front of himself.

"I don't even know where to start when it hits this close to home." Sam mused, looked over her work and began typing new lines of code.

"As it tends to do."

"What I'd like to know is why it's always me who keeps stumbling into multiverse situations," Sam replied.

"Did you consider that it's because you're the only one who understands it?" Jack asked. The major shot him a look but offered a slight smile for his trouble.

"Sir, the best thing I can offer is getting this done as soon as possible. I'm betting there's enough data here to fill in some gaps of what happened, and I want to know why. I'll keep you posted," she said, turning back to her work.

"We all do. Carry on Major. I'll keep an eye on the mini-Carter." He said, living off from the workbench and walking out with his usual swagger, and Sam nodded, watching him go before turning back to her screen and casually glanced back to the CCTV feed she had set on the girl in the observation room. Sleepily chatting with Daniel over something, not unlike the times she'd been laying in the infirmary after any number of close calls. She couldn't be older than twenty-one but there was a hardness in her eyes that spoke to experience which no young person should have to go through. That was all she needed to push on. She had to know.

* * *

Now that she had some food in her, Kylee allowed herself to relax into the bed as Doctor Fraiser took a new reading. The doctor was keeping a bead on the EMF readings so she made a point to suppress it as much as she could so they wouldn't ask any more questions about it, but realistically they already knew something was up. She also didn't mind just relaxing with the company she had in the room. She did her best just to keep under the radar.

"It seems you're running a low-grade fever, young lady." the doctor said, gently scolding just like a mother would after checking the reading of the thermometer. Kylee turned her eyes away, biting the inside of her lip. Really? She felt okay. Maybe a little toasty. That blond woman who they called Sam barely had said a word to her, other than asking her questions. Guess she was weirded out by this too.

She pulled her legs up to bend and hugged them, letting her gaze wander. Daniel seemed to be a regular guy, and Jacob? That outfit threw her a little since it contrasted literally everyone else in the room. Like something you'd see out of a tv show more than a military base. He really stuck out, but there was another reason she couldn't place. Some vague familiarity.

"You came from something called a Stargate, into our reality." Yeah, right, that thing they've been talking about. Wormholes and traveling to other planets. She looked to the one called Daniel, easy on the eyes for an older guy. She certainly didn't mind the company either, giving her something to focus on besides the big fat nothing that was her short-term memory. "Think you can try to remember anything before falling out onto the ramp?"

"You know how you feel after a fever dream?" Ky asked. Daniel nodded without hesitation. That guy had seen some crap, that was for damn sure.

"Like that, mixed with the classic 'walk toward the light' routine. Maybe a little out of body experience also before the multiverse spat me out." She described, trying to put into words the incredibly abstract feeling she had about what she had experienced. It wasn't bad so much as it was oddly neutral, something you couldn't put a finger on. Yet, there was still an edge of something else-it was like a phantom pain, like anxiety crawling up her spine when she thought too hard on it. It just filled her with dread, and grief, and mostly fear.

"How are you so sure it's the multiverse?" Jacob asked, coming off as some great sage type dude. Probably a grandpa or something, he was about that old.

"Nothing else makes sense. You've got a wormhole device that could potentially do the stuff you'd need to mess with the fabric of spacetime." At least, theoretically, based on movies, books, and documentaries I've seen. Kylee finished to herself.

"What kind of 'stuff'?" Jacob asked.

"Stuff that a scientist would know about more than me." Kylee said glumly, glancing away. She was starting to feel drained, but she tried to shake it off and stay alert. Were she to have her wits about her she might have pointed out that she herself was a scientist and knew a thing or two about this stuff as well.

"There is a method we have available to bring memories to the surface. If you're willing, we could try it." Jacob offered gently.

"Maybe…" Forcing the memories to the surface? Sounds delightful. Slowly, she shook her head. "I'll pass, but thanks. Think maybe I can get more to eat?"

"Quite an appetite," Janet replied, perhaps a little bit of a motherly interrogation method on that.

"High metabolism. Tank's empty." They weren't letting her out of the hospital any time soon so she was stuck doing absolutely nothing. "Eh...Bottomless pit, you can see where I'm going with this."

"I'll have something sent up," said the doctor congenially.

"Something other than tuna, please." Kylee asked with a hopeful smile.

"You didn't complain about it before," Daniel noted, as he wrote something down in his notebook. Nice that he was sticking around.

"Probably woulda eaten anything you put in front of me." Ky replied, then tilted her head at the book in the notably attractive nerdy dude's hand. "Whatcha reading?"

Daniel blinked twice before shifting his train of thought towards the girl's question."Oh. Ah. It's an Arameic text."

"Hey, how's the chatterbox?" An older man in military fatigues entered the room. His hair was cropped short and his face seemed weathered but still interesting to look at. The name 'O'Neill' was sewn onto the left breast pocket.

"Well, Jack, she's chatty. Which is usually a good sign. ." Daniel replied, then looked back to her.

"So, about your mom." the guy called Jack started, easing into a chair next to the bed. "Samantha Carter? Easily puts the intelligence of the planet earth on a bell curve?"

" No. My Mom's name isn't Samantha. Might be a Carter in the family somewhere but..." Kylee exhaled and surveyed the room, and maybe she was a little more guarded about details about her family. "Look, I was mistaken. That's not my mom. If she was, I'd be talking to her right now. But this must be an alternate reality. And probably a back to the future situation."

"You've traveled eighteen years into the past, into another reality, and in your reality, your mother looks just like Sam, but isn't." Daniel replied, summing it all up.

"Yeah..." Kylee replied, hoping they'd actually get off the topic. "Multiverse stuff is tricky. There's gonna be the standard scifi cliche of evil twins and an infinite amount of em' And then there's my case where they clearly have the same genetics but totally different lives unless mom left out a significant chapter of her career history." Like, if her mom had to go into hiding, change her name, and go into witness protection? It didn't make any sense.

"Oh, they're definitely related…" Daniel said softly.

Kylee frowned. Now they were just giving her a hard time. "Maybe, but my mom isn't some military badass. She's a lawyer, second fiddle to the district attorney."

That remark made O'Neill grin ever so slightly, which made Kylee get ever so slightly more annoyed with him. She didn't want to be snippy but she didn't like to be interrogated either.

"Tell me." Jacob asked. "The electromagnetic field has been stable for the better part of two hours, but only after you were able to settle down, had something to eat and drink. You can control it can't you?"

"I plead the fifth." Ky said, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Can she do that?" O'Neill asked.

"Technically," Daniel said.

"Where'ya from?" O'Neill asked.

"Minnesota."

"Ah. So the land of loons, loofahs and ya' sure you betcha shnookums." O'Neill said pointedly in probably the most deliberate Minnesotan accent she's ever heard.

"...Yah." Kylee replied slowly, raising her eyebrows incredulously. "You too?"

"Yep. So, what's it gonna take to get you to answer our questions?" O'Neill asked.

She raised her wrist and pointed to the cuff that had her tethered to the bed. "How about you let me get outta here?"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that just yet." Janet replied. "I'm going to insist you stay here a while longer, at least until quarters are prepared for you. I'd like to make sure your vitals are stable before letting you out into the wild."

"Am I a prisoner?" Kylee asked.

"Of course not," O'Neill said. "You want it off? That's it?"

"That was the shortlist…" Kylee mused, then grinned. "Couple of books, protection from being exploited by the military, maybe a tv?"

She watched as Daniel's eyes widened slightly and exhaled air in a way that it looked like his cheeks deflated, then gave a pointed glance to Jack. "Now, ah… Just to clarify… you don't happen to recognize anyone here as your father?"

Wow, subtle. The young blond looked at the Colonel before cracking a smile.

"Heh. No. He's not… No." Kylee shook her head. "Think I'd have been on that by now if this dude was my dad. It doesn't mean he doesn't look familiar. Except…" She pauses. "Ever been on TV with a mullet?"

Daniel pursed his lips, raising his brows. "Forget I asked.'

"So much for that theory." Jack cracked, then turned to the doctor. "Say, Doc, think you can keep track of our little superhero here?"

"How are you so sure I'm a superhero?" Kylee asked, knitting her brows. These guys were slick, but she had to concede the fact she's been out for a few days. More than enough time to detect something and obviously they'd picked up on the EM field since they were making a fuss about it.

"You're not denying it. Something about your choice of wardrobe gave it away," and the infuriatingly observant old guy pins her down again. Damn. No playing close to the vest with these guys, huh? Not to mention her lack of control of her powers just before she woke up.

"I think I can keep her occupied for a while," the doctor said to Jack. "But before I remove the restraint, I would appreciate an explanation for the EM field given that it does seem to be affecting your medical condition, and that is pertinent information given that, for the time being, I'm your doctor."

Ky probably couldn't stop the pout, and the woman gave her an admonishing gaze at that. No nonsense here. "Alright, so what if I do show you? How do I know you're not going to flip out and shoot me? Or decide I'm a decent science experiment?"

Jacob offered a smile that radiated warmth, one that made her crack the smallest of smiles herself. "Nothing's going to happen to you, kiddo. You have my word."

"Alright." Kylee said with reservations and prepared to demonstrate for the peanut gallery. She wasn't in any position to play dumb now.

"Here's what I can do." She let a small surge of electricity pass over her skin, bouncing around, and playing tesla between her fingers before she let it peter out into the air. She could feel some of the hair on her arm lift, as did the hair on her head.

"Holy hannah," exclaimed the older man.

"Okay. Now that is cool." O'Neill said.

"That's not the half of it." Kylee said wryly and let the electricity dissipate, then allowing her hand to fall on the cuff again, turning the lock with her powers as it did appear to have a magnetic mechanism. It dropped off her wrist and she pulled her arm towards her. "Fair is fair, isn't it?"

The Colonel's brow creased and he shook his head. "You're pushing your luck. Now is that it? You gonna stick around here?"

"I...of course," she said and pulled her hands inwards. "Where am I gonna go anyway?"

"Who knows. Run amok unsupervised?" the Colonel asked.

"In a medical gown, flashing my buns to the US military? I don't think so. But I wouldn't mind stretching my legs." Kylee asked, and the Colonel nodded.

Once the Doctor gave her approval Kylee picked herself up to climb off the bed, her legs protesting every move she made. Still, she braved the cold stone floor and just about fell into Jacob's arm causing her head to go spinning. "Whoa-"

She was hoisted back up by the elder man and deposited right back to where she started, on the side of the bed. That was probably a good indicator that maybe, just maybe, she was worse off than she had thought.

"Well, kid, normally I'm not all too fond of sentencing someone to the infirmary under a certain Napoleonic power monger and her giant honkin' needles but in light of your not being able to stand, I'll make an exception."

"Looks like. Normally I try not to encourage the Colonel in his belligerence but he's right. You're not well enough to be cut loose, and until your fever breaks, you're to stay in bed, understand?" the doctor ordered.

"Yeah." Kylee said and crawled back to the bed, feeling a bit dizzy from losing her balance and glancing up at the doctor, probably looking about as pitiful as you can get. "Probably a good time to mention I'm hypermetabolic…"

"That probably explains your blood work and muscle weakness. Rest now, sweetheart, I'll get you something to help make you feel better." Fraiser replied and moved away while Kylee let her arm fall over her eyes to ease her dizziness. After a moment the good doctor came back and offered her something to drink but by then, the other folks had begun to file out. Jacob glanced back at her once more before walking out. It wasn't just the muscle weakness, it was as if her entire body had been rebooted. It was like in a videogame, when you die, and you still have a few lives left.

Because she was pretty sure that before she woke up in this bed, she had been dead, and that did not bode well.


	3. A brief Detour

The puzzle of the device had taken the better part of the evening, and before Sam finally decided to take a break in the commissary she had cracked the code. By late night she had uncovered more information about the circumstances of Kylee’s past that would be discussed in the briefing the following afternoon. She’d used the morning to prepare the files for the presentation, but for now, she was stewing over one of the first images she’d seen: an image that looked like looking into a mirror of the future.   
  
The woman in the picture was pushing fifty, her hair past her chin and smartly styled but at the same time somewhat lax. She wore glasses in many of the other pictures but here she had gone without, hugging Kylee and seemingly provoking a larger smile from the girl off-camera. Perhaps poking her in the ribs, something Sam’s own mother used to do to gently nudge out a bigger smile from her when she was young and occasionally a bit too serious for her own good. It was in that action that she could see herself in this women, and the girl as well. She felt her heartache a little for the road not taken, but the first path she ventured into in that domain had not treated her well. Since Hanson, she’d flirted with the idea of getting back into the dating scene, but nothing really clicked, and now? 

  
  
It was complicated.   
  
Sam let her thoughts go back to the photo. The smile was hers and yet tempered by experience and the girl with her smile that she could see herself in, joyful and bright. Saying she didn’t feel some connection to what was essentially her daughter would be a lie, but she was struggling with how to approach the youth now that she’d spent most of the day avoiding it and burying herself in her work. It seemed easier than facing the end of one of those roads she didn’t take.    
  
Looking up at the clock, she smiled mirthlessly and rose from her workbench. Best to sleep on it, because like it or not, starting in the morning, she was going to be taking a detour.

**P5X-745 MISSION REPORT**

**SUPPLEMENTAL**

**MAJOR SAMANTHA CARTER**

Specification Excerpt. See Engineering report  **745 A1A** for further technical findings. Device labeled 745-Artifact 1A was found among belongings of subject Kylee Harwood. It measures 6.2 x 2.91 x 0.3 inches, with a casing made of metal and plastic polymers. Inside the device is a motherboard device of what appears to be an advanced make and model with equivalent components known to Earth at this time.    
  
I can’t say I’m shocked to meet a potential child from another timeline, nor am I surprised to learn about some of the nuances regarding the permutations of different timelines. I, Major Samantha Carter, and Doctor Samantha Carter from the Earth we helped free from the Goa’uld a year ago are much closer than the ‘Allison Conner’ that Kylee has named as her mother, the woman to whom I share genetics and appearance with. The genetic implications alone require investigation. Relevant logs specific to said events are in MR 745 A1A.   
  
=========================================================   
  


**SUPPLEMENTAL** **  
** **TRANSCRIPT FILE 001-003 745-A1A**   
  


**001: Beacon City News 10-31-17.**   
\--Terror on campus was thwarted today by superhero team Northern Lights as they battled a metahuman with the ability to induce hallucinations and one who had the ability to shapeshift. Currently, the University Campus is being evacuated and 15 students and teachers who were affected by the meta’s powers.   
  
\--Deputy District Attorney Allison Conner is with us to explain what the mayor intends to do about the surge of metahuman terrorism and criminal activity.   
  
\--[Woman depicted resembles Major Samantha Carter.] Thank you Archie. The City Council and Mayor recognize the threat of individuals with abilities is a cause for public concern. Currently they are reviewing proposals for new legislation to regulate power usage, while deputizing those who are using their abilities to benefit or protect the people around them.    
  
-What about the proposed metahuman registry?   
  
-That is one of the options being discussed at present. I can only urge the people to report to a doctor if you develop powers that cause you or your family any harm, and not to alienate others around you who develop one themselves. This wasn’t their choice. No further comment.

  
  
002: Beacon City News 11-02-17   
  
-Today a man nearly fell to his death from an office window after being pushed out. He was saved by the quick work of Hightail. [Footage shows a blurred figure, then immediately cuts to a blurry photo of a blond woman dressed in the same outfit as Kylee Harwood.]   
  
003: Beacon City News 11-15-17   
  
-We have live footage of the weather disruption. Confirmed to be metahuman activity. [Pictured: A young-looking African American woman with a white mohawk is throwing icicles at Subject Identified as Kylee Harwood.] The following roads have been closed or diverted to avoid public involvement.   
  


* * *

  
“Okay.” Daniel said. “So that’s not exactly you, but…”   
  
“If anything, it confirms our observation of the data up to this date, and more,” Carter replied. “And she’s only me in matters of genetics and predisposition. It’s clear she had an entirely different life, one that’s far removed from our own timeline, yet it’s similar. Similar enough to read as my genetics on a DNA test,” Carter replied, exhaling softly, she was too tense.   
  
“As for Kylee, she has abilities that allow her to move at speeds that match or exceed what we experienced using the Atanik armbands. She also possesses the ability to control electromagnetic fields and she can produce enough of a charge for it to be visible, and channel it. However, it’s particularly taxing on her body and requires enormous dietary considerations,” Carter said.    
  
“As you did when you were under the influence of the armbands, I remember,” Hammond said without reservations. Probably fair. Jack leaned back in his chair, still eyeing the screen, thinking back to the woman who looked just too much like a slightly older Carter. He caught himself appreciating the lines of her face a little too much, though he wouldn’t admit it.

  
“So, I buy the alternate reality stuff, and I’ll point out that I don’t understand any of it,” he gestured vaguely, “but Carter, how’d she get to our world in the first place? And more importantly, are we gonna get caught up in it?”   
  
“I was just about to get to that. The footage you’re about to see is basically when the status quo of the previous footage changes. There’s no real way to tell when these events happened because they were recorded by the phone’s camera. Any time stamps were corrupted after this. First, the still images.” 

* * *

  
  
**SUPPLEMENTAL** **  
** **TRANSCRIPT FILE 0010-013 745-A1A** **  
** **  
** **-Attached Photograph:** A tall man in green with fuzzy trim on his jacket stands behind Kylee, grinning wildly from the top of a building..    
**-Attached photograph:** The man in the foreground taking a picture of himself while Kylee falls off the building   
  
-Video Transcript 010: [Subject appears on screen briefly after several minutes of motion blur and darkness as the camera was obscured by the ground or a hand. She examines the device and then turns it around, but just as she turns it off, the camera focuses on a large form in the debris in front of her.]

**-Video Transcript 011:** [Subject appears on screen and looks ragged. Her vest is unzipped around her hips and she’s rubbing a smudge of dirt on her face.. She is covered in silt but otherwise looks unhurt.]   
I think I--Yep! The camera works now. Damn thing’s got some glitches in it I think. It’s not long for this world but I’ve gotta…   
  
Alien abduction, of all things, right? Man…[She laughs]   
  
Guess I won the probability lottery but I’d have preferred getting struck by lightning twice over this. Speaking of astronomically impossible odds…This place is some kind of Nexus. It’s been presented as someplace between dimensions, which they call the Infinity Cascade. Setting something like this between dimensions doesn’t seem like it’s feasible, but we’re talking infinite possibilities. Someone found a way to pull it off, I guess.   
  
I’m… really out of my element here. Outside of what they want us for, it’s..--- [Her head sharply turns.]   
  
Oh. Crap.   
  
[The video abruptly turns off.]

* * *

  
  
**Video Transcript 012:** [Camera is out of focus but it regains focus with Kylee sitting on a couch in a somewhat nicer room.]   
  
So… Now I’m a champion. Because of course, I am… yay. Go team.   
  
Maybe it’s a reality check and I’ve got bad karma, but this place seems to be some kind of… interdimensional entertainment stadium for the rich and influential. Gods even. Honestly, I just think they invite all the scum of the universe to get their jollies on watching the noble heroes duke it out for their entertainment.   
  
That’s what I’ve been doing here. Surviving… Winning… Got new quarters because we somehow managed to earn enough favor to get better accommodations. I wish I knew what that really meant. Losing too many fights means going back to the barracks with that shitty food, so what I’m sensing is that they upgrade you once you start complying so you become a crowd-pleaser.    
  
I… I know that it’s wrong but I kinda don’t want to go back down there. But maybe it’s just homesick, or Stockholm. Great. Mom, you’d probably march right up to the guy in charge here and punch his teeth out. If he had any.   
  
[Indiscernible noise]… Is this stupid? Talking into a phone as if I was actually talking to my mom. Check your voicemail, I’m actually reaching out. Right. [She wipes her nose.]   
  
I wish I knew what I needed to get out of here. All that big brain science and I’m still going to have to rely on a hail mary from someone I know who could reach us, but he probably doesn’t even know we’re gone.   
  
[She looks off into the distance and turns the camera around to show a black void below and a swirling, seemingly endless storm that goes on as far as can be detected by camera. The arena appears to be below the station where she is, and all of the modules of the location appear to be segmented pieces of a space station. It is unknown how it is able to remain stable or how individuals move from one section to the next.]   
  
Sure wish I could just click my heels and go home…   
  
Anyway…...Whatever. [Video ends.]   
  


**Video Transcript 013:** Hey. It's been a while. Starting to think half the reason we're here isn't just entertainment. There's a one way mirror on the other side of the cell, at least it is most of the time. It’s like a zoo. Anyway, I’m probably not going to make any logs after this. Mostly because either Zeph is gonna succeed in trying to make a deal with that witch he keeps talking about or I'm gonna go out in a blaze of glory tryin' to break out of here.

I didn't mean for it to work out this was mom. Take care of everyone for me. Tell Dad and Dusty I love ‘em.

[She looks away before nodding softly, and turning off the feed.]

* * *

  
“We still know very little about how she managed to get here, but being abducted, and brought to this Infinity Cascade at least presented an opportunity to find her way to another universe, provided she was able to escape as she had planned. She ended up in ours through unknown means. As for whether or not it’s a threat, I have no idea,” Sam reported, feeling a bit burdened by all of this information. The looming threat of an interdimensional human trafficking situation did not bode well, even if they seemed to primarily target superhumans. “We have no precedent for this. I couldn’t begin to calculate the odds for or against whether or not we’re in the clear, but at this moment I have no way of knowing, ultimately.”   
  


Jacob finally seemed to snap out of his thoughts. “For now we should assume it’s just as likely that they’ll pursue her as it isn’t. The best we can hope for is some breathing room, but Sam is right. Even the Tok’ra don’t have any history of dealing with something at this level.”   
  
“We didn’t get this far betting on odds, but we’ll stay on alert all the same. If she can help fend whatever could show up off, I want to know about it. As for the girl, I’d like to hear your thoughts. I’d like to avoid a repeat of the incident with the Tok’ra armbands,” Hammond said as he mulled over what had been said. “And what are your impressions of her?”   
  


"Honestly, Sir, I don't see a reason why she isn't exactly what she's presented. She’s nervous about us, but she was ultimately forthcoming with her abilities and that’s telling." The blond tightened her lips, knowing she could empathize with Kylee’s situation more than she could imagine. 

“I'm with Sam,” Daniel agreed. “Nothing she said or did hinted at any ulterior motives.”   
  
“A little cocky, but we’re not exactly dealing with a criminal mastermind. You saw the footage, sir. You think a kid who saved people would go out of her way to take us out?” Jack asked, as though he’s seen everything he needed to, but Sam knew her CO far better than that. He was giving her the benefit of the doubt because he wanted her to be on the level, not because he was completely convinced. Part of it, she suspected, was for her benefit as well, but she wasn’t entirely comfortable with that thought. She hadn’t quite adjusted to the idea of opening her life to a daughter she didn’t know she had. At that, she exhaled softly.   
  
“Is it not possible she has been programmed subconsciously?” Teal’c asked, as though it were the obvious question. 

  
  
Anyone who didn’t shudder at that, suppressed one. Sam met eyes with Jack, a silent understanding between them as they recalled the entire fiasco with the zatarc machine false positives. Sam looked up and nodded. “We’ll conduct some tests.”    
  
“Agreed. There are more unknowns than I’m comfortable with,” said the General. “But as it stands she hasn’t shown any hostility and that’s a mark in her favor. I’ll have her assigned a room but she will also be under guard at all times, until she proves herself. If that’s all, you’re dismissed.”   
  
Jacob rose when the General did and beckoned her over to join them. George nodded, leading the way to his office. Sam followed, curious to what her father had on his mind. The door closed behind them, General Hammond took a seat and Jacob nodded to her.   
  
“George, there’s the matter of the tests we conducted. Regarding her DNA,” Jacob said. “Like it or not she’s basically family.”   
  
“Dad…” Sam protested, but Jacob’s hand fell on her shoulder. It wasn’t like she didn’t agree, she just felt resistant to the idea. It was much more difficult to wrap her mind around than she would have considered.   
  
“Maybe not directly, but if Allison is anything like you, then this kid can’t be too far off. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She shot him a rueful look for that.   
  
“What are you suggesting, Jacob?” replied the General.   
  
“I’d like to set a precedent just in case our friends at the NID decide to capitalize on her. I’d like to do what we can to mitigate any outside interference. So I’d like to call in a favor.”    
  
Hammond fell silent for a few moments and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Of course, we’ll do all our power to make sure she doesn’t fall in the wrong hands, but it could take a while. This means it will fall to you, Major, to fill out the paperwork.”    
  
“Yes, sir,” Carter replied, not entirely sure she wanted to take responsibility for this girl, but then… she really may have nowhere else to go. “Dad, we should go talk to her.”   
  
“If she’s well enough, you can take her to the briefing room. I wouldn’t mind having a word with her myself,” the General said.   
  
“We’ll be along shortly,” Jacob said, and they both headed out the door. Sam couldn’t help but look at her father with apprehension. They walked several paces with him and frowned. “I haven't even spoken to her.”   
  
“It’s not every day your super-powered offspring stops by. Let alone grandchild,” her father said, she met his gaze with a rueful look.    
  
“The whole thing makes me uncomfortable. I know we share genetics, but taking her on as a…a ward, even though she’s an adult…” Sam sighed. She knew why Jacob made the suggestion. Even with Kylee being an adult she’ll still be watched closely, which meant they may not grant her full agency for a while. “It’s overwhelming.”   
  


Sam paused and smiled softly. “And yet, the entire thing is incredible.”   
  
“That’s why I want to reach out to her. Show her she’s got someone in her corner," he said. "That's what she needs now."

"I know. I guess I never really gave much thought to parenting either," Sam conceded.

"Look on the bright side. Now you'll get in some practice," her father said with a devious yet paternal smile.

"You've been waiting all day to say that, haven't you?"

  
  


* * *

  
She dreamed fitfully for a while, images of strange and eerie things that only served to fill her with a sense of dread shooting through her subconscious. Eventually, she jolted awake, taking in a shaky breath. She felt a hand reaching for her hair as a cool rag touched her forehead, a cliche but she did feel warmer than she should have. The dream faded, and she thought back to something one of her relatives once told her about dreams, that when they got into the realm of odd, scary monsters, it was cosmic garbage, set to be purged from your mind. Granted that specific relative was more on the bohemian side of things, but still...   
  
She sat up and wiped her face off, glancing up at Doctor Fraisure, who had come over to check on her. “Clicked my heels and everything,” she managed to croak out, trying to force a smile and unsure as to how successful she was, “still in Oz.”   
  
“Ruby slippers don’t get much mileage these days,” the older woman said with a sympathetic if sad smile. “Do you think you’re well enough to walk around?” Kylee glanced up at the IV drip, glancing down to her arm. 

  
  
“I think so, jumped the gun before didn’t I?,” said the girl with thinning lips. Running her hands through her hair she glanced up at the doctor again who regarded her curiously. “Not every day you’re plucked out of the aether and rematerialized.”   
  
“Is that what you think happened?” asked the doctor.   
  
“Uh, maybe. I can’t actually remember much right now, before I got here. It feels more like my body has been factory reset and I have to acclimate,” Kylee mused and tucked the longest strands of her hair behind her ear. “But wormholes, alternate realities, that’s gotta take a toll on your body, somehow.”    
  
The doctor nodded with tight lips, regarding Kylee with a stern yet patient gaze. “We’ll have to look into it, I suppose. In the meantime there is the matter of your metabolism. After pushing intravenous feeding in your IV your values have leveled out to an acceptable margin. You should be feeling a little more steady on your feet, of course, until we sort out your nutritional needs, you’ll be taking it easy.”

  
  
There was no room for protest, as the doctor continued. “Likewise, no more use of your abilities for the time being due to your condition. I’m sure you’ll be spoken to about that by the end of the day from someone else, but this is an order from your doctor, got it?” Kylee nodded, slumping her shoulders at the idea of the military putting her on a leash. It wasn’t exactly unexpected and she wasn’t really up for being needlessly obstinate. It wasn’t even nearly as annoying as the fact that she was twenty years out of time, or in another reality. The thing that really impressed her was how savvy they seemed to be about the whole concept of alternate realities. Exactly what did they get up to here?    
  
“We talkin’ a boot camp talk down?” she asked, watching as the doctor shook her head with a half-smile before her attention shifted to look up at the man who entered the room. It was that guy again… Jack? He walked right up to her and tossed her something, which she easily caught. A teddy bear, one wearing a blue air force shirt, brown with tan muzzle and paws.   
  
“Aw. What’s this for?” Kylee asked with a smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

  
  
“Small personal gestures tend to go a long way in these parts.” the colonel said with a shrug, “You might be a little old for a dog.” he added cryptically.    
  
“So you’re saying you want me to like you?” Kylee asked, one eyebrow raised in a half-challenge.   
  
“Well, the alternative doesn’t seem all that appealing,” Jack replied.   
  
“Good point.” Kylee said as she laid back against the pillow. “So, what’s the word on getting out of here?”   
  
“That all depends on if the doctor here’ll cut you loose,” O’neill said as he glanced at her, sizing her over. “You okay, kid?”   
  
“I’m fine. I’m tougher than I look,” she said with a light shrug. It wasn’t like she looked fragile or anything, at least she didn’t think so, but a few days in a hospital bed tended to make anyone look a little squishier than normal. Hopefully, she was getting the color back in her face. Based on that dizzy spell and the fever she must have not looked that great the other day.   
  
Not having much else to say, she played with the bear a moment, then grinned softly and looked up at Jack. “Heh. Hey. Look. I’ve got the right to “bear” arms.”    
  
Jack smirked but didn’t say anything, which implied she may not want to try to pursue a career in comedy. And that was fine, it was more that the Colonel seemed satisfied with her health and they were joined with another pair of visitors. That Jacob guy, and good ole ‘Not Mom’, Samantha Carter.   
  
Nope, still weird. It was like looking at an old photograph, without the glasses, or the right hair. She glanced up at the newcomers but quickly returned her focus to the bear. “Hey.”   
  
“Hey.” Sam replied. “You’re doing better?”   
  
Ky offered the ‘so so’ gesture in response, still not meeting her gaze. “I’m okay. I’m gonna need to do some dietary metric calculations for the doctor. Still gonna eat you guys outta house and home, so sorry in advance. Roughly five to ten thousand calories a day based on activity.”   
  
She held back the urge to laugh at the audible gasp coming from the doctor, then turned her gaze back to Sam.   
  
"Well,” the older blond exhaled after a moment. "We'll make sure to get you lots of carbs."

The girl chewed on her words, trying not to be entirely too cheeky. "Steak and potatoes, right?"   
  
“Something like that,” Ms. Carter (she had a military rank, right? Kylee couldn’t remember it at the moment) said. “I’m hoping we can sit down and have a talk. If you’re up for it we can head up to the commissary and get something to eat, then introduce you to the General.”   
  
That was unexpected. “… Sure?” The General was getting involved, so she was basically right on the money with this ‘talk’ being fairly up in the ranks and coming from places she really shouldn’t mess with right now. The doctor handed her a folded olive drab jumpsuit and a pair of shoes that would burn up in about half a minute of serious running. She appreciated the thought behind that. 

“Fine with me, I’m getting claustrophobic in here as it is.” the girl said as she slipped behind a curtain next to her to change. She had an impulse to use her speed, but she didn’t want to test the seemingly infinite patience of her hosts, let alone get knocked flat on her ass again. She also hoped that being methodical about everything would help her to ignore the creeping feeling of anxiety she still had since that last dream.

After a couple of minutes, she hopped out from behind the curtain, forcing a bit more pep into her step. “Let’s go.”   


* * *

  
  
One would think that after raising a daughter, distant as he had been, nothing would surprise Jacob in the realm of parenting, but that gleeful astonishment come over his supposed ‘granddaughter’s’ face upon seeing the Stargate made him wonder what Sam’s reaction was, and wished he’d been there to witness it. Needless to say, he did feel a small sense of pride, and a slight sense of Selmak taking pride in ironing out his personal life. Mentally, he shushed Selmak’s teasing and approached the girl as she looked down into the gate room.   
  
“Remarkable, isn’t it? That can transport you instantaneously from one planet to another in the blink of an eye.” Jacob explained, and while he knew she’d been told a small bit about the stargate, no details had been given to her. He was going to enjoy this.   
  
“It’s where all the rumbling comes from, isn’t it?” she asked.

  
  
“Wait,” Sam said. “Are you saying you can feel the stargate activate from the infirmary?” Four separate, military-grade levels up?   
  
“Maybe. Maybe I just feel the power being used to-- uh,” She paused, and glanced at Sam. “I absorb kinetic energy, and convert it. That’s kind of why I can pick up on those sorts of things. So uuh… we agreed earlier right? No experiments?”

Sam’s lips pressed together. “I was hoping we could take more measurements on your nervous system and response times, but nobody is planning to force you to do anything. Or violate your human rights, if that’s what you’re thinking.”   
  
“Especially after I promised nothing would happen to her, that’s an order,” Jacob stated firmly. Not that he had much actual say around here, but his word still had some pull. He also still had some contacts and favors he could call in. Not to mention the idea of staying on favorable terms with the Tok’ra would carry its own weight. He filed the mental thought away for later and turned to smile at his two companions, especially the younger one. “Although at the same time, I can tell you that Sam won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with.”

“Yeah.” Kylee nodded, looking somewhat more somber now as she walked away from the window overlooking the embarkation room. “I won’t lie, it makes me nervous. I’ve seen too many movies… and also, personal experience.”   
  
“We know a bit about that. We’ve been able to uncover details about your experiences from your device. The device that was with you--”   
  
“What… You looked through my phone?” Kylee asked, as though affronted, her brows knitting with irritation.    
  
“It wasn’t meant to be an invasion of your privacy,” Jacob said before she had a chance to protest further. “A young girl with ties to two ranking military officers would invoke suspicion. Our planet has enemies, you have to understand that it was for your protection as much as it was military intelligence. Now that we know who you are, there is a measure of trust we can extend to you, so long as you’re willing to trust us.”   
  
She looked dejected, shooting a hard look towards Sam. “That’s not cool. I mean… “ She paused and turned away. “Just… please don’t do it again. Without asking.”   
  
That’s one way to start a relationship, though Jacob had sensed some tension between them even before they really began to interact, and it was far beyond his place to question.   
  
Sam looked put out, but before she had a chance to respond, General Hammond entered the room, obviously looking for them as he approached the group.   
  
"Kylee, this is General Hammond. He's our commanding officer," Sam explained automatically, gesturing to the man as he entered. Jacob noticed something then, that Kylee’s hair was sticking up slightly more than before, but it began to settle down against her as she took in the General and recomposed herself.   
  


"Good to meet you, Miss.” George offered his hand to shake.

"Yeah. You too,” Kylee exhaled exasperatedly, nodded to him and accepted the handshake.   
  
From there, without further discussion, the General gestured to the table. “Please, be seated.”

* * *

  
  
Kylee pressed her lips together, glancing over at Sam briefly. She could almost imagine her saying something like ‘time to play ball, kiddo’, even though she didn’t even know what game she was playing. Folding her hands she tipped her head down. 

  
“Now then young lady, I understand where you might have some reservations in regards to this facility and your stay here. I’ve assigned you personal quarters and for as long as you’re here, we’ll do what we can to make you as comfortable as possible.”   
  
“As long as I’m here?” Kylee questioned. She was actually kind of jazzed about the idea, having a place to stay and food to eat when on a new world in a new universe was, unsurprisingly, a comfort. She wondered if they had a protocol for situations like this -- impossible ones that shouldn’t happen but kind of do when quantum physics and magic abilities collided. Impossible odds, impossible circumstances. She’s faced supposedly impossible odds before but nothing like this. “And there are stipulations?”   
  
“Yes. That you conduct yourself in accordance with the rules of this base and respect some restrictions that relate to national security. For the time being, you will be restricted to base and require an escort, be it a member of SG-1 or a security detail,” the General said, exactly what she’d been afraid of hearing. So much for getting out of here and getting some fresh air.   
  
“Okay, well…” Kylee chewed on her words, knowing for starters that disrespecting this guy was not only bad manners but way worse than sassing her own mother while she was on the job which she learned long ago not to do. The last thing she wanted was to be essentially grounded, as a grown-ass adult, for being rude. “I’d like accommodation for my powers. I mean… a place to run.”   
  
To her surprise, the General nodded. “I’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, until a means is found to return you to your own reality, you’re our guest. On that matter, Jacob, is there anything the Tok’ra can do?” Tok’ra? The who? Right. Other planets, aliens. Was this guy really an alien? No bumpy heads or extraneous body parts? No cartoonishly dangerous monsters? He actually looked distantly familiar, like she’d seen him before today but with her memory as borked as it was, she couldn’t be sure.

  
  
“Not in regards to interdimensional travel. However, there are methods to aid in emotional recovery that we can lend you and would be easily adaptable to be compatible with technology you’re already familiar with such as the memory recall device if she’s inclined to use it. Otherwise, we should be able to help if any other physical issues arise,” Jacob said, straightforward and to the point. Not exactly the most cleverly named technologies either, she had to say. Lost in translation, maybe, if this guy really was an alien.   
  
Kylee rose her hand. “I think I’ll pass on that, .”   
  
“Be that as it may,” Jacob replied with a soft smile. The guy seemingly had infinite patience for her, which was odd but she dismissed it for now and listened to them speak between themselves about things for which she had no inkling, but was all drawing out her curiosity.   
  
“Sir, there’s always the chance we can request help from the Asgard or the Tollan,” Sam said, which only begged questions that Kylee didn’t really have any business asking. She sat on it, saying nothing, though if these people they spoke of could help get her home she wouldn’t say no.   
  
“We’ll put in a request to speak with them,” the General replied, tone matter-of-fact. Then he turned to Kylee. “In the meantime, I’ll ask that you settle in. If you need anything more than what we can provide from the base, we’ll requisition it.” Kylee smiled at their attempts to return the olive branch.    
  
It wasn’t exactly what she wanted but it was a start.   
  
Then she huffed a little, straightened in her seat and offered a faux salute as she nodded. “Yessir.”    
  
The exchange of expressions between the general and Sam was… interesting. Guess it was the major’s job to reign her in.   
  
“Unless there’s anything else, I’ll leave you in Major Carter’s capable hands,” the General said before rising. She didn’t have any questions, other than, ‘what about Daniel’s hands? Or Jack’s?’ At least until she realized that it probably wouldn’t have sounded quite right. Besides, he’d said that she’d have a guard that consisted of a member of SG-1 or security, so likely she’d be switching hands a lot.   
  
She sighed slightly and climbed to her feet as well, looking back out to the stargate. Once the General left she glanced up at Jacob. “I figure there’s an elephant in the room you wanna address?”   
  


Sam blinked at the girl’s terseness. Apparently there was only so much one could take.

“One or two,” Sam replied somewhat glibly but offered a smile.   
  
“Like how I’m probably stuck here and gotta live under Uncle Sam’s roof?” Ky said cheekily, although she seemed to sense that maybe it was the wrong audience so she turned her head away. “To put it more accurately, I’m definitely stuck here, better get used to military fashion, one size fits all.”   
  
Sam bit the inside of her cheeks and tilted her head forward. The reality was starting to set in, huh, kiddo? “We won’t give up hope. If there’s a way to get you home, we’ll find it,” Sam insisted firmly. “But in the meantime, nobody here wants to make your life any harder than it needs to be.”   
  
“So cooperate and things’ll run smooth?” Kylee asked.   
  
“In a manner of speaking, yes. It’s not exactly the most liberating scenario but for now it’s the best we can do,” Sam replied, noting the deflating shoulders as she exhaled.    
  
Given what she’d been through Sam wasn’t surprised that the kid was feeling defensive about being held up in what probably looked to her like a prison. Even if she didn’t remember exactly what happened before she arrived here, she might have some sense of it subconsciously. Whatever her experiences, they hadn’t been pretty.   
  
It struck her then how young Kylee really was; an adult, sure, but still coming into her own with an ego that didn’t have the temperance of experience to keep it from being too easily bruised. Then again, this wasn’t a mere bruising. She probably felt like she’d lost everything. Alone. Trapped.   
  
Her father nodded and reached over to the young woman. “That’s really not all it comes down to, Kylee. You already know Sam resembles your mother, but a DNA test revealed she is essentially an equivalent of your own mother, at least genetically. Which makes you, in a way, my granddaughter.”   
  
Kylee turned to look up at him, eyes wide with shock. That probably explained why she’d allowed the older man to put his hand on her shoulder. She blinked as the information registered, studied him for several seconds, then looked to Sam to compare-- “That’s…”   
  
“You didn’t recognize me? I take it I wasn’t around in your timeline,” Jacob said somberly. Kylee shook her head, then rubbed the back of her neck.   
  
“Ooookay, weird. Possible. I mean I guess if the genetics are one for one then…” Kylee said, tilting her head to concede the point. “Let’s aaah, talk about my mom, and how she’s not in the military, not even hinted at. She’s tough as nails, too hot to trot and way ahead of the curve, but uh… Yeah. If anything you’re more like a long lost, cosmic twin sister,” she said, pressing her lips together, flustered.   
  
“Too hot to trot?” Jacob echoed, then grinned at Sam.   
  
Sam suppressed an eye-roll at her father’s jab but let herself grin even slightly at the remark about being ahead of the curve. As much as she didn’t feel comfortable comparing herself to this Allison, she had to admit it could be an accurate assessment. “Interesting choice of words, but it isn’t off base, at least from a certain point of view. You understand the basics of Multiple universe theory?”   
  
“I lived it,” Kylee said glibly, cracking a soft smile that looked a little sad. “But yeah I understand it more or less. There’s just as many universes where I exist then where I don’t, right? So is it possible that a Samantha Carter ended up living an entirely different life to the point of having a completely different identity? Yeah. It’s also possible my parents have been lying to us, but Occam's Razor nips that idea in the bud.”   
  
“That doesn’t seem as likely, no,” Sam said in good humor. “I admit it came as a surprise, the last time we dealt with alternate realities, I met a version of myself who, like your mom, never went into the military. That was jarring, to say the least. But every choice you make can have multiple possible outcomes, which means several potential alternate realities that are created parallel to each other.”   
  
“How do you know other realities are ‘created’ and weren’t just there the whole time?” Kylee asked, tapping her chin with a free hand.   
  
“Now that’s a question,” Jacob said jovially, a light jab in Sam’s direction. “And as much as I think I’d enjoy listening to you two unravel the mysteries of the universe, we do have something else to discuss. The fact of the matter is, we don’t have a way to get you home right now, and if there is a method it may take time to discover it. In the meantime, I want you to know that both Sam and I are here for you. We’d like to do what we can to make you feel at home.”    
  
“You mean like family?” Kylee asked tentatively.   
  
“If that’s what you want,” Sam’s father said as gently as a seasoned veteran could. Perhaps even softer than Sam could remember him being with her, likely thanks to Selmak’s influence. That or the grandfather effect. She remembered hearing that grandparents tended to be a little more lenient with their grandkids. She couldn’t say whether it was true or not, only barely remembering her own grandparents.   
  
“Well, maybe…” Kylee frowned and glanced behind her towards the window. “My family wouldn’t turn you away if the situation were reversed...”   
  
“Blood is thicker than water?” Jacob suggested as an analog to the sentiment.   
  
“Yeah, basically.” Kylee replied and rose to her feet and walked over to the observation window, looking back down to the stargate, pensively observing it while she mulled something over. “Aah… so uh… it might actually take a while for me to see you as you, Sam”    
  
“I understand,” Sam said. God knew that half the base would have a fit trying to suss out the dynamic if Dr. Carter had been able to stay. “I expect that it won’t be easy for you, but I won’t be offended by it.”   
  
Sam walked over to stand along with Jacob, her father pulling the girl close which drew a surprised smile out of her.    
  
“I guess I’m stuck with you guys, huh?” she asked, and Sam took her free hand into hers and gave it a squeeze.   
  
“Yeah. I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” Sam said, and while she had her own reservations, the fact that the girl accepted her father’s proposal did alleviate some of her doubts. She smiled and looked on towards the Stargate, the light glimmering off of it in an almost magical way, giving off the aura of untapped knowledge and places left unexplored. Then she turned her gaze to the girl, another source of untapped potential and smiled before speaking. “And hey, play your cards right and you might be able to get in on some of the fun.”

Kylee blinked, looking surprised. Then she turned to the stargate, then back to Sam with the broad grin that struck Sam like a ray of hope, and she couldn't help but look out onto the Stargate and smile herself. Detour or not, it was going to be interesting.  



	4. Reassure me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rocky start to relationship never hurt anyone. Kylee and Samantha navigate their relationship and get over some speedbumps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://sglostcharge.tumblr.com/ for a fun AMA for the characters

Why did she agree to do this?

Guilt, maybe. Looking at Sam’s big blue eyes and seeing her mom’s made it very difficult to actually say no, especially with how she left things…  
  
Still, as adamantly as she was against experiments, getting the metrics on how her body worked was something she never had actually gotten around to do as far as she could recall, she just didn’t foresee being covered with diodes and stripped down to a tank top and shorts.

  
  
“Hmmf…” Kylee grunted and shifted her weight uncomfortably, twiddling her thumbs despite Sam’s request she just stay still and concentrate on her powers. She could handle that passively, at least. Thankfully, Sam hadn’t said anything about the fiddling.  
  
“Five more minutes,” the older blond announced absent-mindedly.  
  
“You said that five minutes ago.”  
  
“More like two, you know everytime you distract me it might end up being longer.”  
  
“You’re asking a lot, Sammy,” Kylee said exasperatedly, “If it helps I can turn it up a notch."

  
“I’d rather not short the censors. Also just Sam, please,” Sam said as she focused on her work, glancing up only once at the teasing.  
  
“Sammy is cute," Ky protested, though smiling wryly.  
  
“True, but I outgrew that when I was in first grade." Sam looked wistful for a moment, Ky smiling a bit trying to imagine a little girl, too big for her britches demanding to be called Sam like a grown up. That was how she read that admission, anyway. 

“It’s still cute,” the younger blond teased.

****

  
  
“Just try to hold still. We’re almost done,” Sam said with a hint of exasperation in her voice.  
  
It was her state of mind that caused time to slow to a crawl, and as much as it annoyed Sam to deal with her inability to sit still She went through every method of calculous and mental math she could think of, ran through processes of manufacturing she had to memorize and even just thought about the fabrication software she used for designing parts. Chances were there was an entirely different set of rules she had to learn, and learn to do it at a super slow processing speed. Yikes. It did not exactly fill her with feelings of confidence.  
  
“Sam, please tell me we’re done…” she said finally -- and she did not whine, darn it! She didn’t!  
“I think we’ll have to be for now. Are you usually this restless?” Sam asked, looking at her with some concern as the duly appointed lab rat moved to sit up.  
  
“It’s not like I’m trying to annoy you,” Kylee said, maybe a bit too reactively. Maybe too defensively, too. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked towards Sam, still tapping her fingers against her knees. After a moment she felt the itch to move again. “There has got to be a more efficient way to do this.”  
  
“Not yet,” Sam said and glanced back at her readings.  
  
“Let’s fix that,” Kylee said and started picking at some of the sticky pads that had begun to make her skin crawl. “We could completely overhaul the system, get the hardware up to date and--”  
  


The corners of Sam's mouth tugged gently and she met her eyes, and Ky turned hers away awkwardly. “Sorry, not helpful...” Kylee chuckled sheepishly, turning her head away while Sam read the readouts on the computer.

Getting used to Sam in place of her mom wasn’t easy, and it was more than a little disconcerting. She had to keep reminding her that for the purposes of interpersonal relations, this woman was effectively more of an aunt or cousin than anything else. Still, seeing her mom’s face and that smile?  
  
There was that pang of guilt again. If she’d left things better with her mom, this would probably be a lot more fun. Then again, there was a more than just that baggage she was carrying. Plus, she’d promised to try and see Sam for who she was, so she really did need to hold herself to that. She sighed wistfully and looked back up at the older blond, letting a bit of hair fall into her face as she leaned into her knees. She supposed that the biggest difference between Sam and her mom was the fact that Sam didn’t quite look quite as weary. She didn’t give off an air of ‘I’ve seen it all’ as her mother did. There was this starry-eyed look of wonder and curiosity with almost every question rather than the thoughtful, analytical looks of her mom.   
  
They went down completely different paths. One, a lawyer with a closeted geek streak, and the other, a soldier and a scientist. They were both highly educated, confident women. They both smiled a lot, and even while Sam’s starry-eyed look was rare in her mom, she couldn’t dismiss the de ja vous at the similarity of the expression; the same, but it was still different enough that she could tell them apart.  
  
“So. What’re you in school for?” Sam asked, and broke Kylee out of her analysis, keeping her eyes on the computer screen. How she could be productive on that big, fat, sorry-excuse-for-a-paperweight screen of hers was beyond her. Kylee pressed her fingertips together and bit back an amused smile, reminding herself to be nice.  
  
“Electrical engineering. What a shock,” Kylee said, with a smile creeping onto her face. She glanced over at Sam who met her eyes and the younger of the two wiggled her eyebrows at the unintentional pun. Sam flashed a grin and shook her head.  
  
“A focus on material science and fabrication. I really just wanted to have a job where I could make basically anything I wanted to, and maybe get to blow things up once in a while. Y’know, for science. That was the dream.”

  
  
“Was?” Sam asked and raised her brows.  
  
“Not exactly sure how to pick up where I left off, none of the technology is the same,” Kylee mused, thinking back to home, something familiar. Her lab, the research and development program. She remembered that much, the crisp modern style with white walls and work benches. Minimalist, unlike this lab with jenga-like layers of equipment. “It’s similar. It’s just that, if I end up having to stay here, I’m going to have to bridge the gap between my knowledge and yours. Plus, you guys don’t have any Orihalcum so holographic tech wouldn’t even work.”  
  
“Orihalcum? What?” Sam turned her gaze and held it on the girl. “Can you elaborate?”  
  
“Well, you have it, I just don’t think it has the same properties as it does in my universe. Because by the year 2000 we already had holograms and 3D videogames. Last night Jack gave me his ‘game boy’ and it’s 8-bit. That’s the stuff my dad used to play with,” Ky explained, wrapping her hands around her feet as she sat cross-legged on the table. “It’s superconductive and the minerals produce crystals that we use for light refraction for holograms."  
  
“That’s amazing,” Sam said, her eyes wide with wonder and enthusiasm. “I wondered what those components were in your... Um.” Sam looked behind her at the phone,which she had put back together, then reached over and picked it up. “There’s so much in here: how compact it is, and the amount of data that it can hold alone is astounding. However, I think there is an analog for your orihalcum. It might actually be composed of the same or similar molecular makeup as Naquadah. I’d have to take some scrapings and do a mass spec analysis and compare it.”  
  
“Oh, so you call it something different here?” Kylee asked curiously.  
  
“No. We don’t actually have Naquadah in Earth’s Solar system. It’s considerably rare, and only a fraction of the planets without Goa’uld occupation have significant deposits of it.” Sam replied. “I can’t say if it’s a one to one equivalent, but if it’s even remotely similar it would explain why your reality is so advanced compared to ours.”  
  
“Probably. Or why there’s a city in the frozen wastes of Minnesota,” Kylee said with an eye-roll, and suppressed a giggle when Sam gave her a look of concern. It was the sort of look that older folks tended to have when you talked about doomsday scenarios. “I’m kidding. It’s just that my home doesn’t exist here.”  
  
“That’s... “ Sam bit her lip. “Sorry to hear that.”  
  
“Permutations,” Kylee said, echoing something Sam said the day before during dinner as they resumed the topic of alternate realities.   
  
“Right,” Sam said, offering a smile, then turned back to her work. “I think I can extrapolate values from the data we’ve collected. There’s enough of a baseline but now I’m curious whether or not you can turn your powers off."

“Not really,” Kylee said, turning her eyes down. She could read between the lines with that. Whether or not Sam wanted it to mean it that way or not. They wanted to know how much control she had, and by extension how much they had as well. 

"Okay, obviously not a comfortable topic, however, based on what I've seen and what you've said, your kinetic absorption can make your power grow exponentially. That seems dangerous, even if you have enhanced durability," Sam said, looking back to the girl for clarification.   
  
“You wanna know if I’m gonna crash and burn like before,” Kylee asked, Sam giving her full attention and Ky bit her lip. “I think that was a fluke. I have had incidents like that before, but not in reverse. See, my EM field is basically like sweat; I'm shedding the excess because I don't need it. When I run, I generate and release it at once and I tend to generate more than I release so my speed increases as I go. I've never been able to get over mach five and I don't know if that's a physical limitation or I just haven't been able to go beyond that," Kylee said and picked at one of the sensors on her forehead.  
  
“Like sweat cooling your body only, it’s energy bleed?” Sam suggested to the girl, nodding thoughtfully as she looked at the readings she had so far.  
  
“Kinda. Some powers come with a package deal, and when they don’t you kinda run into some issues. Like clothing and shoes aren’t protected from friction like my body is.” She also took the opportunity to run her hand over Sam’s hair, causing her short hair to lift up like a faux-hawk. “Oh. Hey. Sam. That’s a good look for you.”

Sam rolled her eyes and gave her a lopsided smile. “All right, cut it out.” Ky feigned innocence in response.  
  
“Exactly how did you solve the friction issue?” Sam asked as she’d actually experienced something like that herself.  
  
“Desperation, access to a R&D lab, and lots of coffee.” Needless to say, the look on Sam’s face was priceless. “I have the chemical structure sewn into my jacket. The process is on my phone.”  
  
“I still can’t believe you call that a phone,” Sam said with a bit of incredulity. “It’s got more processing power than half of my equipment in here combined.”  
  
“I’ve noticed,” Kylee said with a widening grin. “It’s driving me crazy.”  
  
Sam shook her head with a patient smile, then looked back to her computer screen only to have to turn her attention back towards the door as someone walked in and Kylee greeted her.  
  
“Hey, Doc.”  
  
Fraiser looked between the two, eyes falling on Kylee, then Sam. “Looks like you two are getting along.”  
  
“More or less, all aside from being turned into a professional labrat.” Kylee turned her gaze to Sam. “...I’m getting paid, right?”

Sam shrugged. “Possibly,” she told the girl.

“Huh,” Kylee said. Well, she’d take it.  
  
“Aside from that how’re you feeling?” The doctor said, offering her a few energy bars. Kylee took them gratefully and unwrapped one, chewing on the tip to taste it. Not bad for military snacks. Didn’t they have a bad reputation? Or was that just in the movies?  
  
“I’m okay. Starting to feel normal, which means I’ll be back up to running circles around the base in no time.” The two women glanced at each other, raising red flags in Kylee, who stiffened involuntarily. She had a bad feeling about what she’d say next.

After a moment of silence, Fraiser turned to her. “I’m glad, but I’m still insisting you don’t overexert yourself. As for using your powers, you know the rules,” the doctor said sternly. Oh. If that was all. Kylee tried hard not to roll her eyes, she then turned her gaze away. She wouldn’t read into that. She wouldn’t.

Sensing the change in mood, Sam reached over to pull the younger girl’s hair out of her eyes. Ky shrunk away from the doting gesture.  
  
“Aah. Um. Sorry.” Kylee said, flustered again. “Not sure I’m… Yeah.” She bit her lip and turned further away. Just when she was starting to actually get along with this poor woman. Damn. “It’s okay. It’s just… moody over-sensitive crap. I’ll get through it.”  
  
“Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. You’ve got the time, and whenever you’re ready we can talk,” Fraiser said and placed a hand on hers. Kylee twitched her hand but didn’t move it away. They were trying, and she appreciated it, but a lump had formed in her throat and she just didn’t have the strength of will to force down that sudden wave of anxiety that hit her.  
  
After a moment Fraiser gave her hand a small squeeze and withdrew it.  
  
“You guys are all too nice, you know what?” Kylee said admonishingly, yet cracking a small, sly smile at the two.  
  
“Can you imagine if we weren’t?” Sam asked.  
  
“Yes,” Kylee laughed mirthlessly under her breath. “Look, I’ll help you with the numbers later if you want. I need a break now, though. Uuuh, keep the lights on, I’ll be right back.”  
  
Doctor Fraiser widened her eyes as the diodes were systematically removed in rapid succession. “You were done, weren't you?” she asked Sam.  
  


“I’ve gotten as much data as I’m going to get right now,” Sam told Janet. An amused light in her eyes.

“That’s convenient then considering how Colonel O’Neill’s looking for you,” the doctor said. Kylee raised her brows and wondered exactly what the old man was up to, then she waved her hand to the two ladies and dashed off in a blur. She probably should have followed the rules, but like one of her old friends always told her, it was much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, and she needed to stretch her legs.

* * *

  
Janet turned her gaze from the door as the girl departed, then looking back to Sam. “I can’t say that surprises me. It’s that experiment all over again.”

“Yup," Sam said, popping the “p”.   
  
“Am I wrong to assume you were a little more trouble for your teachers at the academy?” Janet said with a teasing smile.

Sam gave Janet an innocent look. “Oh, c’mon Janet, you know me. Perfectly behaved.” But the corners of her mouth twitched.  
  
“I’m sure. So, how are you taking all this?” The doctor asked, moving to lean against Sam’s workbench. 

****

Sam sighed. “It’s not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me with alternate realities if that’s what you're asking.”  
  
“That may be true, but there’s only really been the incident from last year. Still, I suppose that after meeting an alternate version of yourself, you're prepared for just about anything,” Janet said, and Sam exhaled softly. Even while the events mirrored each other, the outcomes were completely different. True, she had been faced with the possibility of her doppelganger becoming a permanent resident at the SGC and she really would have had a "twin". A doppelganger who had been married to her commanding officer. That had taken some time to adjust to mentally. Probably more for Sam than anyone else, even the Colonel.  
  
“You'd think.” Maybe it was just the fact that she too had recently been abducted and had her brain stamped with a fictitious identity that made her a little gun shy to the fact that this whole incident really put the onus squarely on her shoulders. "I'm starting to think the multiverse has it in for me."  
  
“I can understand that. It’s part of the reason I’m checking up on you as well,” Janet said,as she leaned next to Sam’s workbench. Sam didn’t want to look ungrateful, so she smiled even if it wasn’t quite as genuine as she had hoped. Janet had a knack for picking up when things were amiss, she just knew Sam too well that hiding her feelings were pretty pointless.  
  
“I’ll be fine, but her feelings for me are… complicated.” The girl’s conduct, her moodiness left something to be desired, but she was making an effort to get along. If nothing else it was a mark of maturity. “I just don’t know if I can make her feel happy here.”

  
Janet smiled sympathetically. “If there's anything raising Cass has taught me, it's that making someone happy is outside of your control. The best you can hope to do is give her a home -- for her to know that, for better or for worse. she has someone she can trust," Janet said, and Sam nodded, conceding the point. 

  
“You really do have a way of putting these things in perspective,” Sam said, leaning her chin into her hands as she thought about the past few hours. Maybe she had asked too much too soon today, leading to frustration on both sides. “I know she’s putting on the sunny disposition to spare my feelings, in her shoes I might do the same thing. I guess separating me from who she knows as her mom is harder than she thought it would be.”  
  
“Then show her who you are,” Janet smiled and put her hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Not the soldier, the woman. I don’t think she’s seen enough of that side of you.”  
  
“That’s true, I really should spend a little more time with her. Last thing I need is dad to check-in and find out that we hate each other,” Sam said without even bothering to mask her apprehension of that. So she had a new prerogative, figure out how to show this girl that she really was going to stand in her corner. “Thanks Janet.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
In Jack O’Neill’s experience, there was always an opportunity to say, “I toldja so.” It was usually a matter of reading the room to figure out when and where the opportunity would strike. A kid breaking the rules? It was inevitable. Especially when you used bait.  
  
In fact, Jack should have made a bet that the kid wouldn’t follow an order not to use her powers. Between the reports of slight electrical glitches and the occasional task being completed while someone wasn’t looking around the base, as well as a phantom kitchen staff doing some of the prep work overnight for lunch… well, it wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out.   
  
Something told him that they were going to need to install some high speed cameras near that kid’s door. If nothing else, he was glad that her mischief was confined to a few harmless acts of boredom. At the end of the day, the only issue was how she conducted herself. That is, disobeying a pretty big order. That wasn't gonna fly.  
  


Luckily, he’d been chatting with Hammond, looking into the Cheyenne Mountain’s neighboring caves, and it turned out they did have access to one that had been decommissioned in the 80s. Just a big room that they hadn’t ever been developed a few levels above the water reservoir they built back in the day. Took some compelling arguments, but he managed to secure its use.  
  
And that just brought him back to ‘I told you so.’  
  
He checked his watch. “Any second now.”  
  
“So you really think she’s going to use her powers in direct defiance of an order from the General?” Daniel asked skeptically.   
  
“You remember the time we did?”  
  
“Jack!”

  
  
“I stand corrected,” Daniel said, turning to look at the young girl as she slid to a stop right in front of them.. “So ah, you do know you’re supposed to have an escort, right?”  
  
“Yeah, they were right behind me. Guess they couldn’t keep up, but then it seemed like more of a guideline than a rule,” Kylee replied smartly, grinning cheekily.  
  
“I’m gonna tell you now, Sparky, it’s a hard rule, ” Jack said, looking at her, making a point to put on that old mask of the hard ass he rarely wore these days. 

  
  
  
Kylee pulled a face, her brows knitting at him with annoyance, at least until she heard him out. Her poise relaxed and she nodded. “Sure.”  
  
“Really? I mean it, no sarcastic sure. No more midnight express super speed shenanigans.”  
  
“You figured that one out? And I thought you’d appreciate it.”  
  
“Hey, if you want a job in food service all you had to do was ask,” Jack countered, “If you want to spend the next three weeks peeling potatoes in the kitchen, you’re on the right track.”  
  
“I think I’d rather keep it as a hobby, thanks. Got bored waiting for the brownies to finish,” Kylee replied, Jack gave her a far more incredulous look.  
  
“Uuuuh…. I stress bake,” Kylee said with an awkward pause, her brows knitting and looking somewhat perplexed before turning her attention to Daniel.  
  
“Sorta how Sam stress calculates planetary alignments?” Daniel asked.  
  
Kylee shifted sheepishly and offered a light chuckle. “She does? Is that a joke?”  
  
“Probably. Exactly how different is your reality from ours?” Daniel asked.  
  
Kylee huffed, as though she just had to field this question. “All the technology you guys have looks like it was made back in the 80s or even before that. The electrical circuitry of most of the technology here is totally archaic.”  
  
“Yeah. Archaic. Like the 80s,” Jack said, then decided to question further. Pointedly, he asked. “Exactly how did you figure that one out?”  
  
"The dark ages, yes...aah...Stuff. Things. In my room," Kylee said in a dodgy manner, offering a light smile. "My point is, it's all obsolete."

"If you buy a computer, it's obsolete when you walk it out of the store," Daniel said, a bit wryly. "But that’s a significant gap in technological level. Not unlike some of the societies we've visited through the Stargate."

"Oh, yeah? Now if only we can get it working to send me home I’ll hook you up,” he said gregariously. “It might help alleviate this whole, ‘being stuck in the stone age,’ thing.”

"You haven't seen Daniel's office yet. Just wait," Jack countered and Daniel shot him a look.

He smirked and opened the door to the access shaft. "In here kid."

She followed him in as did Dannyboy. There was about three or four yards of passage before they entered the main cave. It was about the size of a baseball field, stone walls and a rounded ceiling carved from the mountain. Utility lights hung on the wall illuminated the room on the sides yet as it stood it was still a fairly barren environment. Further down, the cave’s ceiling fell to about ten feet tall. Long and wide enough to explore. Teal'c stood inside waiting for them all.

"Whoa…" she said, and Jack grinned.

"Here's the deal. You start following the rules and you can use this room to deal with the 'zoomies',” Jack said, grinning wider when the girl glanced over her shoulder at him.  
  
“You’re saying, if I follow all your orders like a good little soldier, I get free reign of this room?”  
  
“Within reason,” Daniel said crisply -- or it would have been crisp if he hadn’t seemed like he was tripping over himself to cover all the bases.  
  
“It’s gonna need a lot of work,” Kylee mused, looking around the cavernous room.  
  
“Yeah, and maybe they’ll work on it for ya if you can stay out of trouble,” Jack stated, surveying the room.  
  
“It’s not like I’m going out of my way to make trouble,” Kylee replied, exasperated.  
  
“If you did not intend to cause trouble, you would not be so quick to disregard the orders given to you,” Teal’c replied easily.  
  
Kylee dipped her head again, sighing. “Yeah, well, you caught me. I’ve got no excuse. Sorry.”  
  
“It’s alright. Go ahead and zip around for a while,” Jack replied, making a sweeping gesture towards the entire room.  
  
Kylee bit her lip, trying to hide her excitement for wanton ‘zippidy doodah’, and burst off with a flash of light which disrupted the air, drawing it after her like a vacuum. Daniel might have lost his hat if he’d been wearing it. Jack watched the little blue neon streak darting around the room, all that electricity trailing behind her until she was back in front of him. Woosh. “This is a really nice gesture and all but I’m already burning through these soles. Think I can go get my gear?”  
  
“We’ll have an airman bring them down,” Daniel said as he watched the display of speed with a passively interested look on his face. Like he had other things to do, and of course he did, but part of the reason Jack pulled him out of the office for stuff like this was just to keep him from getting lost in his work, the same reason he often pestered Carter. Leave them both to their own devices and you wouldn’t see them for days. He had a cabin for that.  
  
“In the meantime maybe you can show me your office, Daniel,” the kid said to the archeologist. That was surprising, and not in the way that he expected given the doe eyes Kylee had given him the day before, or that a child of Carter wouldn’t be boundlessly curious. She had an ulterior motive behind her calculating eyes, only masked by her asking Daniel so sweetly.   
  


This notably flustered Daniel and he pushed his glasses up his nose. “Uuh, sure. I guess.”  
  
Jack suppressed a chuckle, as Daniel clearly picked up on the same signals that he was, subtle as they were. “Teal’c, why don’t you go with them.”   
  
The big guy tipped his head, arms behind his back as he moved towards the access. Daniel resigned himself to it, and led the way. 

* * *

  
  
**P5X-745 MISSION REPORT**

**SUPPLEMENTAL**

**Colonel Jack O’Neill** **  
****  
**_It didn’t take much to inspire blatant disregard to the rules imposed on her, in the same breath it didn’t take much to inspire cooperation given a compromise. In regards to overall temperament the particular subject of Kylee Harwood is young, boisterous and energetic, but ultimately reasoned and sensible. In regards to base security, her powers are the only concern, but it is my professional opinion that she has no ill intent. If she does, she’s not making a show of it._ _  
__  
__Therefore it is my recommendation that she be allowed requisition privileges in light of her continued cooperation._ _  
_

* * *

  
“Ancient aliens appropriating myths and legends to subjugate human beings? Pretty novel take on the evil overlord thing,” Kylee remarked as she examined what Daniel had on display in his office. Of course, he was chaperoning, watching her get bright eyed at some of the more interesting artifacts that he had on display. He’d begun to catch the resemblance to Sam now: curious, snarky, with a high interest in learning? Yeah, she was a Carter alright, even if the names didn’t match. There was a distinct difference though, in the way she and Sam held themselves. Sam was stalwart, always moving forward, like a river. In keeping with the metaphorical forces of nature, Ky seemed more like wind: carefree and graceful. Perhaps, even a little more impulsive, which seemed to be the primary reason he was giving a tour of his office.  
  
“Actually it kind of reminds me of this science fiction guy I read in highschool. Erich Danniken I think. He wrote all these books about the ancient aliens building pyramids and all, but then there was this television show that’s been on the air for years,” Kylee said, still browsing the bookshelves.  
  
“Uhm, who?” Daniel asked, he didn’t recognize the name so he was somewhat lost on what exactly she was talking about. Honestly it sounded like trying to break the ice, small talk. Just like Jack. she was meandering. Must just be a cultural thing... 

  
  
  
“Oh, well never mind. But it’s funny, all the ancient alien guys have crazy hair. You meanwhile don’t look the least bit crazy. Actually you’re pretty good looking.” she continued, offering him another friendly smile.  
  
Daniel coughed and cleared his throat. “Yes, well… I’ve done my best to… uh…” Subconsciously, he reached a hand behind to feel his hair, now clipped short compared to his longer look of the past, but none of this really seemed relevant, in fact he was actually wondering why she had insisted on coming up here. “So do you have an interest in archeology or, can Teal’c take you back down to Jack?”  
  
Sighing, she set down the piece she had unconsciously lifted with wandering hands. How this kid managed to be raised by someone who wasn’t Jack, while still ending up as more or less a clone of him was so far beyond him, he wondered if she was just messing with them, atleast until the smiling demeanor shifted.  
  
“Okay. Then I have a question. I think you’re the most qualified to answer,” Kylee said, looking at him with uncertainty. Sam had been making the same kind of look ever since Kylee had arrived. He didn’t want to admit it, but it was somewhat unsettling to see that look in Sam's eyes let alone reflected in this girl. He wasn’t sure if he was going to like the question.

  
  
“Do you think…” She paused, chewing over the words, her hands rubbing together nervously. “You think angels exist?”  
  
The question gave him pause, as he wasn’t expecting it. Certainly not from someone who he, admittedly, had subconsciously put in the same box as Sam and Jack. There was also an innocence there that caught him off guard, and softened his mild irritation from the otherwise unfocused small talk.   
  
“I don’t know if this is entirely accurate but if the multiverse theory is true, and by all accounts you’re living proof that it is, then wouldn’t it be entirely possible that what we would consider ‘angels’ exist in some form somewhere?” Daniel asked, and Ky exhaled.  
  
“I mean…” She hesitated and thinned her lips. “Do they exist in this reality?”

Kylee clarified.  
  
“If you mean the literal embodiment of the myths and legends or biblical accounts, I can’t honestly say yes. We’ve never encountered anything that matches the descriptions in the bible,” e replied earnestly. “You understand that most of our myths and legends were, like you said, appropriated by aliens. We had native american spirits impersonated by--Hang on.”  
  
Kylee looked up at him. “What?”  
  
“Where’s this coming from?” Daniel asked.  
  
“Aaah….” She rubbed her arm. “I don’t really… It’s just been something in my head. Everything I remember is all muddled, but I am remembering some things but they’re not exactly happy memories.”  
  
“Where does the Angel fit in, exactly?”  
  
“I think I saw one. Maybe in my dreams, or when I was awake, I can’t tell. I just… I don’t even believe in religion. I just want all this to mean something. Otherwise…” She turned away, uncomfortable. Poor kid. She was really just riding on the edge of despair. Daniel knew the signs. So it seemed he had a choice: either come clean about his own experiences with the ascended Ancients (who people thousands of years ago might have described as many winged, like a seraphim), or question her further about what she remembered and get more details.  
  


Call him paranoid, but he almost immediately chose the latter. Four years at the SGC could do that to a person.

  
“What did it look like?” Daniel asked.  
  
Kylee hesitated, almost as though she wasn’t sure if she should say anything at all. “A woman’s face surrounded by bright light. No real words, just a big feeling of safety and if I went with her I’d be alright.”  
  
Teal’c looked towards them. “An ascended being?”  
  
“That’s what I was thinking,” Daniel muttered, nodding to the girl. “It’s entirely possible that you encountered an ancient, someone who we believe has transcended to some higher plane of existence. while you were in another state, maybe--”  
  
“Like I was incorporeal, Daniel. I thought I was dead,” Kylee said somewhat admonishingly, as though she seemed somewhat disappointed in the answer. “That explanation is really vague, y’know.”  
  
“It’s not really that well understood,” Daniel replied.  
  
“But, that means I’m not crazy,” she said.  
  
That was still technically up in the air, but Daniel nodded anyway. “No more than the rest of us.”  
  
The relief that fell over the girl was easy to see, and her lips turned to a slight smile. Like she could relax. “Thanks.”

“Um. No Prob--” And then she hugged him. Didn’t see that coming. Alright. He patted her shoulder and let out a soft sigh of his own. “Are you alright?”

  
  
“Yeah,” She replied, sniffing softly, then trying to hide her emotions as well as she could. He could identify with that. When he’d first joined the SGC, it had taken a lot to learn how to be part of a military unit, and being a kid here? Intimidating as the military could be to a civilian he didn’t blame her for wanting to not look vulnerable.  
  
“Alright then let’s go back. Actually, Teal’c, you take her back, I’ve got to.. Ah, see if I can’t dig up any more details that might help. And Ky...”  
  
“Huh?” She said, looking back at him.  
  
“You’ll will. Be okay, I mean,” Daniel said in an attempt to reassure her, and he offered a thin smile. “If there’s some purpose to all this, we’ll find it. We’ll do everything we can to help get you home.”  
  
“The Tau’ri are not ones to turn their backs on those in need, least of all those who they consider their own,” Teal’c said succinctly but warmly..  
  
“Yeah… I’m getting that…” he paused, then looked up to Teal’c. “But you know… all this ‘escort’ business. It’s starting to make me feel like a baby duck.”  
  
Teal’c hesitated, then offered the most subtle of smiles. “Indeed,” he said before leading the girl out of the lab.

* * *

  
O’Malley’s was a no go as far as she and the boys were concerned, and Sam had half a mind to charm her way back in, at least for ‘to-go’ orders. She was operating on the fly, so she called in a favor from Sergeant Siler, and offered to buy him some hot wings, his favorite entree at the bar. He enthusiastically agreed to make the food run and once he returned he thanked her and carried on with his duties.

  
She took it down to the floor with the guest quarters and knocked on the door. Kylee opened it after a moment, her eyes going from a sleepy confusion to bright curiosity between when she saw Sam, then dinner.  
  
“Oh, so what’s the occasion?” Kylee asked as though trying to play coy.  
  
“Nothing. I just thought I’d treat you to a traditional military dinner,” Sam joked, brightening her smile.  
  
“MREs? You can’t tell the toilet paper from the crackers, from what I hear,” Kylee jokes, opting to sit back on the bed and glance at the television, which had been muted on a car chase movie.   
  
“Not quite,” Sam replied and handed her one of the bags. Ky unwrapped it and took a look inside. Two steaks, a baked potato and fries, two helpings. It wasn’t perhaps the healthiest of dinners but it was meant to be comfort food.   
  
“Wow, thanks,” Ky said with no hint of sarcasm and went to sit at the desk, poking around at the foodstuff inside. “So you just want to have dinner?”  
  
“And talk, if you want the company,” Sam said, and took a seat on the bed. She had ordered a steak sandwich for herself and fries, with a soda from the commissary for the two of them.  
  
“Sure,” Kylee replied, but she kept her focus down to her food as she tried a few of the fries for herself. “Nothin’ on TV but twenty-year-old reruns.”  
  
Sam softly smiled at the joke and took a bite of her fries. “Getting a little cabin fever?”  
  
“Just a little. I’m trying to take the doctor's advice and slow down a little. Living in the moment has never been easy for me,” Ky admitted and started cutting the steak into smaller pieces to snack on as she munched on the fries. “Okay, this is amazing.”  
  
“I thought you’d like it,” Sam said, sitting at the table provided for the girl, not unlike the one she had set up for Cassie years ago. The generic notebook she’d made sure to leave had some doodling on it, typical of a kid but it hinted at some impressive drafting skills, given the page was filled with graphic designs and little helicopter devices.   
  
“You’re pretty good,” Sam said, flipping through the pages. “And this little robot guy is pretty cute too.”  
  
“Just don’t ask me to draw people,” Kylee replied with a chuckle. “I draw robots and cars, but I can’t seem to get people right at all.”  
  
“I think that runs in the family,” Sam said glibly. “I can only draw stick figures.”  
  
Kylee shrugged and took a bite of her steak. “Probably. Or probably not, I think… My brother draws.”  
  
Sam tried not to let her concern show. The fact that the girl had trouble remembering things like that, about her family, just added layers onto the girl’s situation. It wasn’t like Sam could fix it all in one broad stroke, but by god she wanted to. There was no reason that Kylee had to endure all of that, and it made her angry because she knew how the girl must have felt. It had just happened to her a few weeks ago with that memory stamp.   
  
“Good. Keep trying to remember,” Sam said, offering the girl a smile, and the girl looked back at her with wet eyes. Oh, Kylee... The major sighed took the girl's hands to lead her to the bed. “C’mere.”  
  
“Sam…” Ky said, resisting and rubbing her arm awkwardly.  
  
“No, I’m insisting this time. C’mere,” Sam said, smiling at her.

  
  
Ky pressed her lips together and exhaled exasperatedly, more or less the same song and dance as a teenager. Sam would cut her some slack given that she was somehow managing to keep her emotions in check, and cope with the cards she’s been dealt with. Heck of a trooper, this kid. She stood up and joined Sam, tipping her head down and Sam put her arm around the girl’s shoulder, trailing a hand down the side of her hair. Kylee gave out a shaky breath and nodded, but bit her lip.  
  
“After everything, you’re still putting on a brave face. You know it’s okay if you want to talk about it. I won’t force you to, but just know that I’m here,” Sam told her and still smoothed out her hair before settling her hand on the girl’s shoulder.   
  
“Y-yeah. Thanks,” Kylee said, sniffing softly as she regained her composure, swallowing hard. “I’m okay, I mean it. It’s just… I don’t understand why all this happened, Sam. It’s just… It’s hard.”  
  
“I know,” Sam said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “There’s a bright side to all of this, you know. Even if it turns out we can’t find a way for you to go home, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

  
  
Ky’s big blue eyes flicked up at her, wide with curiosity. She could see herself in them, but moreover she saw Ky’s desperation for something to latch onto.  
  
“I don't want to offer you empty promises, so I won’t. I can give you some possibilities, but it would be up to you to make it happen,” Sam started and tugged on one of the girl’s fingers before taking her hand into hers. “You’re smart, that much I know given the work I’ve seen, the formulas you mentioned, on your jacket. They’re viable.”  
  
“Didn’t believe me?” Kylee asked with a soft, rueful smile.   
  
“I did, but I suppose it means more to me as a scientist to see the numbers in front of me or in your case, your uniform,” Sam said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Believe me, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put that brain of yours to good use around here. And if you’re willing to work for the military they would more than likely pay for your education.”  
  
“That’s… well…” Kylee looked up at her. “Huh. A free ride in exchange for picking my brain? I wouldn’t say no.”  
  
“You’ve got potential, but they do have stipulations for that. You’d have to keep your grades up, for one,” Sam said, and Kylee nodded, giving her a reluctant smile. “Plus, I could always take you on, more or less as a protege.”  
  
“That’s as good as I can ask for,” Ky said, pursing her lips with amusement. “Feels like you’re spoiling me a little.”  
  
“Well, that’s my right as your cosmic auntie,” Sam said and put her hand around the girl’s shoulder to pull her close, and Ky fought back a grin. It was just so, so hard to act ambivalent, wasn't it? Sam knew the feeling, being caught between genuinely wanting something and loyalties.  
  
“Okay, okay. Fine. You can have those sacred privileges,” Ky said, still biting back the smile before looking back up at Sam, clearly chewing on her words and Sam rubbed her hand down the girl’s arm. She rested her head against Sam and chuckled softly.

  
  
“Thanks, kiddo. That means a lot,” Sam said with a smile, letting her hand pet down the girl’s untamed hair, appreciating the fact that the girl was actually allowing her to show some affection, but at the same time she knew it was because she was so worn down. She didn’t envy Kylee, but at the same time this development added many new complications to Sam’s own life. It was going to be a lot of work but at least now they had something of a rapport, so if nothing else it wouldn’t be an uphill battle. 


	5. Rebound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://sglostcharge.tumblr.com/ for Character Ask me anything  
> http://impious-imp.deviantart.com for additional character art

The shake up of the status quo left everyone wanting to get back to work, and luckily enough a mission came up that required SG-1’s notice. A man named Martin Lloyd tried to contact Colonel O’Niell and revealed that he knew much about the stargate. Too much. They investigated him, headed to Montana, and in the course of two days discovered the landing site of an alien escape pod as well as having half the team being abducted by a group of aliens that had been hiding on Earth for an unknown amount of time. The entire debacle ended without major incident although Sam did not appreciate being sedated by Tanner and his goons.  
  
Once back on base, she spent a few hours in the infirmary before she and Daniel were cleared. Colonel O’Neill was due to go off-world and she figured she may as well take advantage of it.  
  
It wasn’t hard to find the girl considering her escorts made regular reports. No real surprise that she chose the commissary as a place to spend her time, though once Sam walked in she sighed softly. The kid sat alone, away from her SFs. with her laptop open in front of her as she stared intently at the screen and tapped a finger on the software manual of the CAD software Sam had installed on the laptop. Yes, the device had access to the internet and a limited amount of other software to keep her occupied, but Sam hoped the girl would be more interested in the process of manufacturing here on base. The Major moved through the chow line to get a snack and then joined the girl.  
  


"Hey kiddo," Sam said, setting her cup of blue jello and diet soda on the table.

"Hey," Kylee replied, very focused on the laptop.

"Whatcha doing?" Sam asked, as if she hadn’t already known.

"Trying to make sense of this fossil," she said with the slightest smirk of the corner of her lips, and a snappy gesture to the screen. “Thinkin’ about changing my field of study to paleontology.”

“Very funny,” Sam remarked wryly. "I had the same issue when I had that kind of speed," she remarked . "The buffer filled up so quickly, I had to wait for it to catch up." 

"Our computers aren't that _slow_ , but I know what you mean. It's more that there's a much steeper learning curve. Unlike other things which my speed accelerates the process." Leaning over she pulled something out of the canvas shoulder bag Sam had found for her from their military equipment inventory. From it, she pulled out a ball of yarn and the needles, as well as a hat, a beanie (albeit a flawed one), and a string of failed attempts hanging off of it. The mess spoke to several days of dedicated effort, if it had been herself doing it. 

Kylee then flicked her gaze to Sam. “Not bad for twenty four hours of practice.”  
  


"Okay, I'm impressed," Sam stated with a grin. Anything that kept this kid busy. 

"But this software isn't as intuitive as what I'm used to. Feels like a pointless exercise, but as long as I'm not in my room watching a daytime soap and eating bonbons I think I'll be fine." She raised her eyebrows as if to signal how absurd it sounded. "Raise the red flags if I ever start.”

Sam nodded and suppressed a giggle while leaning her chin into her hand.. "Do you wanna watch Colonel O'Neill go through the Stargate?" She still felt a little too relaxed for her preference, since the sedative earlier, but she didn’t so much mind now since she was off duty in a few hours. If nothing else she’d sleep well tonight.

Still staring at her screen and Ky tilted her head and slowly nodded. “Yes. But...what about going through the stargate myself?”  
  
“Not today,” Sam replied with an amused smirk, as Ky packed up the laptop.   
  
“Aw,” Kylee said dramatically, albeit with a smile on her face, as she pulled the laptop towards her to pack it away. “I’ll go drop this stuff off and meet you there.”  
  
“Alright. Be quick about it,” Sam said.  
  
“Forget who you’re talking to, Sam?” Ky said, walk backward before turning on her heel to follow the SF. “To my quarters, my good man.”  
  
The SF seemed somewhat exasperated but headed down to the elevator with the girl in tow. That gloomy cloud overhead seemed to have lifted, and she was at least focused on being productive. Maybe Sam was reading too much into it, but it seemed like things were beginning to look up for the kid, all things considered.  
  
Within ten minutes she found herself walking alongside the girl up to the briefing room to watch as the gate dialed out. Kylee stood by the window studying the layout curiously as they dialed out to Martin Lloyd’s homeworld; O’Neill, Teal’c, and Martin standing in wait for the wormhole to initiate. 

Jack glanced up at them (Sam had told them they would be watching), and gave a curt nod, then said something to Teal’c. The little guy, Lloyd, seemed very out of place between the two taller men. Ky noticed that, her brows squinting, that familiar analytical look appearing on her face before she cracked a wry smile. At least until the gate began to spin, the cooling agents hissing out at it to keep the entire process running smoothly.  
  


“Whoa. So how does this thing work anyway?” Kylee asked, her big blue eyes widening ever wider as she watched the first chevron lock. They had given her a rough explanation but this was the first time she’d seen it in action.  
  
“Simply put, gate addresses are six points in space, followed by the point of origin which is analogous to a phone number. Have you ever seen a rotary phone?” Sam asked, looking to her side at the girl.  
  
Ky rose her eyebrows incredulously. “Aaah. Well? No. But I imagine you get long distance charges if you try to use one like this.”   
  
Sam cracked a slight smile at that one. She had to admit, Daniel was right about her tendency to channel the same energy as the Colonel often did, but it may just as well have been due to their similar upbringing. It also wasn’t something she should be putting too much thought into, even though she did find herself searching the girl’s face for the possibility. She certainly favored her mother in the looks department.   
  
So she continued. “Once the seven chevrons are activated, forming a stable wormhole from our gate, to the corresponding gate on another planet, in this case, roughly 40,000 lightyears from Earth.”  
  
“How long does it actually take to get somewhere?” Kylee asked while her attention was fixed on what was happening below in the embarkation room.  
  
“Instantaneously. Your molecules are dematerialized, and reconstituted back on the other side of the wormhole,” Sam continued to explain in an effort to see how well Kylee grasped the concepts, looking down at the ring as the sixth chevron lit up.  
  
“So… not bending space, you’re tunneling through it,” Kylee said, looking over her shoulder. “Is that right?”  
  
“Close enough,” Sam replied, pleased the girl had picked up the basics so quickly. The seventh chevron activated, the vortex splashed out and made the girl flinch. She opened her mouth in a start, then grinned.  
  
“I’ve dreamed about this sort of thing since I was little. Guess I landed myself in space camp, huh?” he quipped.  
  
“If that’s how you want to look at it,” Sam replied, and watched as the Colonel, Teal’c and their guest walked through the gate, and moments later the puddle disengaged.  
  
“Oh, what, that’s it?” Kylee asked, pumping her arm in a faux cheer. “Woo.”  
  
Kylee paused, then smiled . “They don’t call that room down there the splash zone, do they?”

  
  
Sam shook her head and gave a sideways glance to the girl who offered a spunky grin in return.  
  
“Cute,” Sam said.  
  
“Yeah yeah. So what do you even--” Kylee began before the alarms began blaring.  
  
“Unscheduled off-world activation,” Harriman announced.  
  
“Kylee, stay here,” Sam ordered, turning sharply to head to the spiral staircase, and once in the control room, she looked out into the gate room.  
  
“No IDC.”  
  
“Close the Iris!” Sam commanded eyes to the gate room. Hammond was quick-stepping down the stairs from his office, and Daniel making his way up from the hall to see what the commotion was.  
  
The iris flickered.   
  
That was not a good sign. 

  
The flickering extended past the iris. Typing frantically, Sam dragged up the gate diagnostics and realized that there was a signal being broadcast, but not radio. It was barely a blip on their sensors but she managed to detect some kind of signal. The same kind of signal that the Goa’uld used to keep a gate open until the thirty eight minutes had expired.  
  
“Any ideas, Major?” General Hammond said.  
  
“Nothing yet, sir. There’s a signal but we’ve not received anything.” Maybe there was some data being transmitted?  
  
The flickering that concerned her began to extend beyond the Iris, and some sort of shimmering mist flooded the area immediately in front of the gate. It seemed to start condensing into a mass, fifteen feet tall. The security team mobilized and aimed their weapons at the mist as it began to look more and more humanoid.   
  
General Hammond ordered them to open fire, and at first, the bullets went straight through, hitting the wall behind the gate to no effect. Then, all at once, the mist gave way in a hiss, revealing a massive metallic metal robot of a design completely alien to the Major. It had a single optical lens in its head, armored panels, and an almost biologically congruent design given that it was built with musculature shapes on its body made of metal and cable. As it manifested fully, it swung its arm towards the security team and knocked several of them off their feet with a sweeping gesture.

  
  
A blur of blue and black flashed in , blue lightning trailing behind the form as it dashed in and out of the gate room, systematically collecting the airmen to get it out of the way. Sam just barely registered what had happened, but her focus had been firmly on the robot as she struggled to think of a defense against it. It turned its head towards the control room, it’s mono-eye beginning to glow, and it produced a loud humming sound, hinting at a possible weapon being charged, emanating from the head of the automaton.  
  
Hammond ordered an evacuation, and to activate the self destruct, and Sam reached for the computer to activate it, not that she thought it was going to matter in two seconds when it fired, until that blue blur shot towards the robot and kicked it in the face hard enough to change the trajectory of its shot.

  
A laser shot out up into the missile silo, breaking off pieces of concrete that fell down into the gate room. The robot recovered and turned its focus towards its new opponent, as did most of the people in the gate room or just outside of it. As much as Sam wanted to yell at her to get out of there, there was a chance she was their best shot of getting out of this.

* * *

  
Of all things to show up, it had to be one of these!  
  
A battle droid from the cascade. Often they were just cannon fodder for them to practice against or fight beat em’ up style, but they often had some unusual quirks to keep it interesting: adaptive armaments, force fields, special rounds, the works. Ky had to figure out how tough this guy was so getting everyone else out so she could gauge its capabilities without casualties was her first priority. She had to protect these people, no matter what.  
  
The tall, bulky machine looked to be one of the sturdier ones as the bullets from before hadn’t done more than a couple of small dents. She had her work cut out for her. She was durable, not super strong, but if she could get enough speed she could do some major damage. Not to mention unloading some raw kinetic energy in some of her attacks. She dashed towards the wall and leapt off of it, springing towards the robot to punch the thing with her arm locked and loaded with some of her discharge. It gave the blow enough oomph to send the robot back into the wall, and it seemed to do the trick. Maybe she was overthinking this?  
  
Maybe it wasn’t as tough looking as it seemed.  
  
She got another hit in, which only emboldened her into charging in again for a bigger attack, a finishing move if she could execute it right. She wanted to try hit it’s back so she could, until it grabbed her leg and slammed her down into the ground, then threw her into a wall. Most of the impact she absorbed, the pain dulled by the jolt of power she received, almost Okay. Ow.  
  
She got to her knees and dove forward to avoid a barrage of energy pulses, then jumped up to her feet. Meanwhile, the droid had turned its attention back to the control room. She slipped into the speedster time, giving a cursory glance around the area. Why wasn’t it going after her? Why would it go after them? Wasn’t it here for her?

  
  
She looked up to Sam who was looking at where she had been a second ago, then looked up to see the robot powering up its weapon again. Alright, this thing needed to be taken down, now! To her right, she spotted a bolt of wire, heavy-duty industrial cord. That would work! She grabbed it and set the bolt against the railing near the stargate so it would dispense quickly. Round and round the robot she went, entwining it in a web of cable, before landing on the floor and pulling it tight. She then sent a surge of power through the cord and the robot’s body seized, almost exactly like a human would. Must have had a similar neural network for its kinetic motion as it had the same result.  
  
She didn’t count on the robot releasing the blast as it fell, however. Almost straight up. It tore through part of the wall near the middle of the silo, and a large chunk of gray began to crumble and fall. She bolted out of the room only narrowly avoiding getting smashed by one of the large pieces of concrete.   
  
When she turned to go back in, one of the SFs grabbed her by the arm and gestured towards the control room, Sam called her name and rushed out. Daniel was with her. Heck, most everyone she knew was up there. She looked to Sam, seeing the concern in her eyes… right next to the (almost) familiar determination.  
  
“Sam?” Ky asked, wondering what exactly the Major had up her sleeve.  
  
“Kylee. You need to shut the gate down,” Sam said.  
  
“How?”  
  
“If you unleash enough electricity you can make it jump from our gate to another. If we dial out, we can use the Kawoosh to take that thing out.”  
  
“I need to build a charge. Can you hold it off?”  
  
“Going to have to,” Sam said quickly. “Go, fast as you can.”   
  


“Got it,” she said.

* * *

  
  
Sam returned to the control room. SFs lined the entrance behind the large piece of concrete that had fallen in front of the entrance. They could use it as cover. The men opened fire once they had regrouped while the robot began to recover. Someone shouted ‘grenade!’ and Sam saw the resulting explosion in the CCTV, which caused the blast doors to rumble while she worked. The robot cut itself free from the cord and unsteadily moved to its feet. All this, Sam watched knowing that at the moment they were playing against time, not odds.  
  
They had a mechanism that could reliably cause the wormhole to jump which would buy them enough time to dial out if the enemy didn’t figure it out before they could reboot. That same mechanism could also do some major damage to the machine attacking them to further improve their odds of victory.  
  
On another monitor, she saw a blur that had to be Kylee, her electrical energy causing static and disrupting the feed more and more with each lap. The floor was evacuated, thankfully. 

  
  
Sam explained everything as she worked to General Hammond, that they were going to use the unstable vortex to take out the robot and that it was their best chance. It wasn’t clear how the enemy managed to bypass the iris, but one thing that they knew for sure was that this was a standard tactic to prevent escape. All that was missing was a holographic projection of a system lord to gloat.  
  
She would thank the lucky stars they hadn’t had that _honor_ quite yet.  
  
Another grenade was thrown by the Sargent in the front, the robot retaliated, shooting a hole through the concrete they were using for cover. General Hammond cursed and turned to her.  
  
The electromagnetic energy that she was picking up on the sensors spiked. She could feel the hairs on her arm prick as she ordered another set of grenades. The robot turned and finally retaliated, sending another eye laser towards the entrance and Sam flinched as she heard another cry of pain. Then the robot turned menacingly back towards the control room.

“Major Carter, we’re being slaughtered here. Whatever you’re going to do, do it now.” He barked.  
  


“Kylee! It has to be now!” Sam yelled into the intercom, before dashing to the stairs and shouting down to the hall to get the attention of the girl in case she hadn’t heard her.   
  
A rumble like rolling thunder followed in Kylee’s wake, and Sam had to duck into the control room with her hands over her ears to avoid the clashing rumble as the girl bolted into the gate room. All Sam heard an explosive crackle along with the kid yelling out forcefully.  
  
The power cut out in the gate room, as Sam had expected, followed by the backups coming online after a moment of delay. The Major raced down the stairs, calling back to Harriman. “Dial out!”   
  
The smell of charred flesh and smoke burned her lungs but she managed to slip through a narrow passage into the gate room to look around, and the gate started to spin. “Thank god.”  
  
Electricity jumped off the gate, Kylee pushing herself up to her knees, glancing back towards Sam and holding her hand up. “Hey get back! I don’t know if that thing’s fully deactivated yet.”  
  
Kylee stumbled a bit as she got to her feet, looking as tense as ever as she watched the robot twitch in a kneeled position. Good instincts, Sam thought, while she watched the robot twitching, maybe trying to reboot. It was down to one knee and it’s joints wretched as it tried to move. Much slower than before, it shot it’s arm out at the two of them, Kylee grabbing her and moving her to a safer distance. Sam winced at the slight static shock that snapped at her but it seemed the girl had committed almost all of her energy she’d worked up into that gambit.   
  
Sam stood up, grabbing a p90 on the ground and pushed forward in front of Kylee. Her eyes widened with alarm as Sam aimed the gun at the robot and began to fire. They had to run, but at least she could buy some time and keep it where it was.  
  
The gate began to spin. First chevron locked. Finally!  
  
The bullets hit the robot in succession, and it made a grinding mechanical scream as it tried to advance towards them, until finally, the damage they had done -- the grenades, the EMP, the electric shock and physical blows from Kylee -- finally took its toll. its leg broke in two and it fell back to its knees. Sam felt her shoulders slump in relief, then looked over at the kid. Kylee looked visibly weaked, but determined, still prepared to fight.  
  
Third chevron. Fourth.  
  
“Incoming wormhole!” Harriman said, and Sam whipped her head around.   
  
“What?” Sam cried in disbelief.   
  
“What’s going on?” Kylee asked, but she was out of the loop. She didn’t know the details of their plan, to get the gate dialed out to decimate this thing, but someone else beat them to the punch.  
  
Whoever it was, the Kawoosh did exactly as she had hoped, taking out the upper body of the machine, leaving the legs to slowly drop to the ground. Sam held her breath, only to let it out in dismay as even more mist began to flood the room. There were more of these things, coming to destroy them.

  
She could only expect that General Hammond was initiating the self destruct, that this entire base was going to be up in flames in a couple of minutes and the mountain collapsing on top of them. Sam looked to Kylee and put her hand on her shoulder.

  
  
“Kylee. Get out of here!”  
  


* * *

  
  
Sam gripped her arm and tried to strongarm her towards the door. Go!”  
  
Shaking free of Sam she dashed around the older woman. It probably drove her nuts, that she’d defy orders like that, did she honestly expect her to run away and leave her?  
  
No. There was no way. No way in hell she’d do that. Instead, she shot a few volleys at the forming mist. Anything to stop it from forming properly.   
  
“Kylee!” Sam protested, and it nearly killed her to not heed the woman’s words, but people were going to die if she didn’t do anything. Sam was going to die… She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t.  
  
“Get everyone out of here!” Ky yelled, and kept on blasting. The robots seemed to be manifesting, and it seemed to be that her attacks were actually doing something, but she wasn’t yet sure what it was. Spotting an exposed power line, one that had supplied power to the gate, she rushed towards it, hoping to use it to access the power grid and absorb the power. Not that she’s ever done it at this scale before, and who knew what it would actually do to her physiology to take in that much power that quickly.  
  
It would get her back in the game. They needed her to be the hero she claimed to be.

  
Making the choice, she ran for it, but even at her enhanced speed, barely breaking fifty miles an hour, she didn’t beat the clock.   
  
“Watch out!” Sam yelled from behind her.  
  
One of the hulking robot monstrosities swept its arm down at her and pinned her, the impact enough to knock the wind right out of her. It generated some power but it wasn’t like she could use it, stunned as she was.  
  
There were two more now, the same as before, and she just wished she had some kind of power that could let her smash without having to rely on getting beat up. She pushed her arm out to reach for the exposed wire and shot out a stream of energy, trying to use it as a lasso to get the electricity moving in her direction. It worked, but only for a second as the hand-scooped her up and raised her into the air. She drew in a sharp breath as the fingers wrapped around her middle, her other arm pinned to her side.  
  
She was well and truly trapped, at the moment, stuck looking at the robot. She expected the fingers to tighten, for her body to be squashed like an insect, and her presumption validated as the fingers tightened. But then... it stopped. 

Kylee didn’t know what to think as it just held her in the air. What? She’d been expecting it to destroy her, but... It suddenly occurred to her that it had never been here to destroy. It wanted to take her as a prisoner again. She remembered the Infinity Cascade, the lower levels full of dirty beings, of people captured and sitting without hope, forced to fight for others’ entertainment… and that was almost too much to bear. She felt her blood freeze and her chest hurt and she couldn’t _breathe_ and then she noticed the other robot starting to go after Sam.

An image of her mother’s face flashed in her mind’s eye and she screamed out. “NO!” She squirmed frantically, kicking her legs and twisting in the grip of the metal man’s hand. Sam fired her weapon until the clip ran out, backing up against the wall. She looked down, rather she looked inward, seeking whatever reserves she had left. Whatever she had--  
  
It exploded. 

  
The resulting kinetic pulse just about ripped the metal right off of the hand of the robot and knocked the other one down. She fell to the ground and dove into a roll, grabbing a gun on her way down and aiming it at the robot.   
  
It was a losing fight, wasn’t it? After all of that, she was going to die here, protecting some alternate reality and failing, again! Even then, the fact that Sam was dead set on protecting her, that she’d been thrown into some ‘after you’, ‘no-no’ after you’ exchange over the life and death scenario nearly made her laugh out of the sheer stupidity of it.   
  
After all, she wasn’t the one who needed protection, was she? She was supposed to be the protector. She was supposed to be the person who could run in at the knick of time and save the day, smiling wide with not a care in the world.  
  
“Get out of here Sam!” Ky yelled, grabbing one of the guns on the floor like Sam had before and aimed it. “Run!” She said, even though she wasn’t sure if she believed it herself. She fired just as the second robot started in for her, and the first aimed its optical laser at the control room.  
  
She barely heard it over the sound of the weapon discharge, but she could have sworn she heard a roar.  
  
A familiar roar.

  
  
She stopped firing and looked up as a tear opened up above them, like someone cutting through a ship’s sail. It was almost too fast for her to see, but a lashing light sliced out of it, and when she could finally make out what it is, she recognized it as a massive lion. A welcome sight if she’s ever seen it, considering she knew the name of this fantastic beast.  
  
Orion.  
  
She smiled, letting the gun drop from her fingertips, glad to see him but wondering if he had been waiting in the wings to save them at the eleventh hour. If he had, she had some choice words. He’d saved them.  
  
She dropped to her knees and laughed, mostly so she wouldn’t cry. Damnit.  
  
\----  
  
The roar shook Sam to her core.  
  
‘Now what?’ she hat thought. Kylee had gone on, ignored her pleas to run, stubbornly fighting on. She couldn’t fault her for it, since she had done the same thing. She heard the alarms blaring, and her heart pounded in her head.   
  
Then she saw it.

  
  
This massive beast, a lion maybe five times the size as normal. Its fur was flawlessly white, it’s mane white and golden, glowing like a star, that seemed to flow even while he was still. His jaw, flanks and underbelly all ethereally patterned with the night sky and twinkling stars, as if the animal somehow held an entire universe inside of it. The androids were in pieces, shredded by claws like a hot knife through butter and done so fast she hadn’t had a chance to process what had just happened. The being before her was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She couldn’t help her jaw-dropping at the sight, even as her brain registered what she was seeing.  
  
“Orion!” Kylee called. The lion regarded her briefly before turning his attention at the gate as yet another -- yes, _another --_ robot forming near the ramp. He growled and opened his mouth to fire out a blast of white-hot star power at the wormhole’s event horizon. (If she had a better word for it, she’d use it.) 

  
  
Once more he glanced over at them, but then leaped into the stargate, and it disengaged. Had he reversed the wormhole? She’d seen similar things done before, but never like this.  
  
Seeing Kylee trembling on the floor she kneeled down and put a hand on her back. “Hey kiddo.” God, she had so many questions. They were alone in the gate room for several minutes before the medical team and SF-s started filing in. It took until one of the medics asked to assess Kylee before she actually said anything.  
  
She looked to Sam and sniffed. “Oh my god,” she said shakily. “I really thought we were gonna bite it.”  
  
Sam stared at her, eyes wide with incredulity, then looked back up at the gate. “So, was that a friend of yours?”  
  
“Yes. Orion. He’s called a… they’re called the Starborn,” Kylee explained giddily, with Sam pulling her up onto one of the cots. “Basically our Obi-Wan.”  
  
“You neglected to mention you know Aslan personally,” Sam said ruefully but she was just trying to process what had just happened. It was insane, but what it was worth Kylee had shown her how committed she was to protect people. In a way, she knew that she’d seen the footage of her as a ‘superhero’ but it seemed simply too fantastical to be real. That and the fact that this young girl who was barely even an adult would put herself in danger to protect people she barely knew…  
  
They were more alike than she wanted to admit, and she still had a little trouble being okay with that. She resisted the idea, more or less, because the girl was one of her own. That there was no reason she should have to risk her life like that, but then there was also no way to stop her, was there? She just had to accept it, but as long as she was here she was going to try and keep her from getting into too much trouble.  
  
“You know,” Sam said as she sat next to Kylee on the cot. “Colonel O’Neill is probably going to say that what you did was absolutely insane, but in a roundabout way, he’ll be saying thank you.”  
  
“That’s a funny roundabout way of saying thank you yourself… Also that I’m nuts, but i’ll take it.” Kylee quipped, and met eyes with the older woman. Sam smiled warmly and pulled the girl close to her. 

  
  
“Thank you, Kylee. I mean it,” she said. Kylee set her head against her shoulder and sighed. It was almost like she knew what kind of hell this was going to be to debrief, but lucky for her she wasn’t going to have to deal with it. “Is your friend able to do anything about this? To prevent it from happening again?”  
  
“I think so,” Kylee said. “And maybe more.”   
  
Sam could only guess what the girl meant, and she rubbed her hand up and down the girl’s arm. That against all odds, the girl might be going home after all.

\-----

  
  
Time didn’t mean much to a Starborn. Orion himself had lived millions of years before he ever gained sapience on the planet Earth. He was born in another star system to another sun and drifted, playing in the corona of his home star much like any other form of life would in their native environment. They didn’t possess any meaningful form, not that could be recognized by a human’s perception. Now, they had ascended beyond what they once were into a state of overwhelming power. Such power, as they say, had responsibility. Noble words, to be sure.  
  
This Earth had been in ruin, buildings crushed, small pockets of humans living on meager accommodations, picking from the scraps and salvaging what they could from their once beautiful cities. That was the reality that any human could see, Orion saw more. There were tattered lines of destruction that went deeper than any human weapon could cause. Entropic decay of this reality had caused the fall of Earth to those who would have otherwise been defeated in the core reality.  
  
Now he tasked himself to clean up the pieces, and that’s what led him here. However, while he knew he was in the right place, he was not in the right time which appeared to be the reason why this planet was in ruin. Whether it was the fault of the infinity cascade and powers beyond him, he could not yet determine. He followed the leylines of time to a crater in the middle of a mountain range. Some manner of port hole was revealed after he cleared some of the debris, and he flew down to the bowels of this human complex. Within, he found a large metal ring with the dust settling on it. It lay in the corner, buried in debris. Nobody had been down here in nearly twenty years. The decay seemed to be the strongest here, so all he had to do was go to the moments before the time aberration occurred, then he could set this reality back on its rightful path.  
  
He intervened, the automaton identical to ones he had seen in the Cascade, and the ring he had seen before was erect and operational, but exactly how did it work? Further, the presence of young Hightail didn’t escape his notice, yet she shouldn’t have been there, which also posed an issue.  
  
On the other side of that wormhole, once he reversed it, he engaged armored warriors arming a large device, one that did not match the technology of the rest of their facility. One that resembled that of the Cascade. Fools. They did not know what power they were meddling with. He destroyed it and subdued the warriors with little difficulty.  
  
It was then, before he could do anything else, that he was whisked away to another plane, one of the realms above. These were the overseers of this universe, it seemed. Like him, beings of light, but unlike him, they were not always so. They were composed of the light of ascended souls.  
  
And they did not seem particularly pleased with him.

* * *

  
  
Jack was gone for three hours.  
  
They didn’t find much on that planet, no cultural keepsakes, no signs of intelligent life, no technology worth mentioning. Marty decided to call it quits and head on back. Jack didn’t blame him, seeing the destruction of your world had to be demoralizing.  
  
Somehow, in the three hours that they were gone, all hell broke loose at the SGC. Someone managed to tear a new hole in the gate room, and by the looks of things, making a renovation joke would have been in terrible taste, even for him.   
  


He was briefed and filled in on the details, Teal’c was sent to work with some engineers to test the effectiveness of staff weapons on the metal scraps they had left just in case. As for him, his duty as CO of his team brought him to the foot of Major Carter’s bed in the temporary triage room. They had not been seen yet but were otherwise doing relatively okay considering they’d almost been killed.   
  
He waited and met eyes with Daniel who was keeping the kid occupied at a nearby table with a game of Gin Rummy. Sam slept on the cot and only stirred after Kylee looked up to him and greeted him.  
  
“Hi, Jack.” The kid said.  
  
Carter stirred, and exhaled sharply, groaning from sore muscles, then opened one, then the other to squint up at him. The doctor said she’d crashed shortly after being sent here from the gate room, and a few of their guys were in the ICU. Hard to believe all this happened within a half-hour of him leaving.  
  
“Sir?” Carter asked and opened both of her eyes. “Hi.”  
  
“You okay, Carter?” Jack asked. She looked like she’d had one hell of a day, and it was late now. “Heard you got thrown into the twilight zone. You know you’re not supposed to do that while I’m off-world.”  
  
“I’ll try to avoid it for next time sir,” she said, offering a small smile. “It was close. If Kylee’s friend didn’t show up I don’t think we could have fought two more of those things.”  
  
“Her friend. General Hammond said something about a big cat?” Jack said.  
  
“Ever read Chronicles of Narnia?” Carter asked.  
  
“That’s what I’m hearing,” Jack nodded. “Was she going to tell anyone about that?”  
  
“It never came up!” Sparky protested, turning in her chair to interject. She was only two yards away, well within earshot.  
  
Daniel waved, he was fine. Of course, he was fine.   
  
“Did you know he was gonna show up?” Jack asked frankly, only probing as much as he needed to for the moment. They’d have to debrief her regardless.  
  
“No. Even then, what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh, by the way, I’m like, totally besties with Space Aslan.’ You’d have thought I was nuts,” she pointed out, not even bothering to suppress her eyeroll.  
  
“Oh no, we still think that,” Jack replied and glanced at Sam who smiled softly. Kylee looked between Sam and Daniel and gave up a little pout.  
  
Then her face fell and she slumped a little. “I didn’t think the robots would show up either. It’s not something you can predict,” the kid said, lowering her eyes to her cards then setting her hand down.  
  
Sam turned her head sharply to Kylee, eyebrows knit with confusion. “You recognize them too? Kylee…”  
  
The kid pressed her lips together and tucked her hands away. “We were a little busy.”  
  
“I know. Next time, you need to speak up sooner,” Sam admonished.  
  
“I will, sorry,” Ky said and crossed her arms, turning back to the deck of cards and tapping ehr hand against the table, then dropped it, clearly frustrated. The girl threaded her hands through her hair to push it back behind her ears.  
  
“What were they actually after?” Daniel asked and set his hand down as well. 

“Based on what I saw, it was defending itself from our response team, not targeting them. It didn’t target Kylee until she became a threat,” Carter stated, glancing up to Jack, her eyes meeting his. “It was targeting the control room.”  
  
Kylee frowned. “The robots were the same kind I fought at the Infinity Cascade. It...It grabbed me, it could have killed me, but it didn’t. It doesn’t make any sense, why would it go after you guys?”  
  
“Good question. If you don’t know the answer, let's hope your lion buddy can shed some light on that,” Jack replied. “Either way, you did good, kid.”  
  
“He will,” Kylee insisted, turning her eyes away in a way similar to Sam did when she got flustered and met eyes with him again. “And if anything else happens I’ll do what I can to keep you guys safe.”  
  
“Isn’t that our job?” Jack asked.  
  
“Killer robots,” Kylee countered.  
  
“And you’re still a kid. So it’s our job to watch out for you, like it or not,” Jack pointed out.  
  


“Uh-huh. I’m not that young.” Kylee tilted her head and gave him a sidelong glance.  
  
“You keep saying that. I’m still not convinced. You were born in 1998, that makes you, what... Two, two, and a half?”  
  
Kylee exhaled heavily and knit her brows, regarding him with all the sass she could muster. “Makes you old enough to be my grandpa, then, doesn’t it?”  
  
“Well, that depends. How hot is your grandma?” Jack grinned at her baffled expression until she leaned over and swatted him in the arm. Carter stifled a laugh.  
  
“You’re not her type,” Kylee said ruefully, trying not to succumb to laughter either.  
  
“Alright, Sir. I think that’s enough. Janet’s around the corner giving you the stink eye,” Carter said, Jack checked, there she was, about ready to put him in traction.  
  
“Yeah, I think it’s about time to let you ladies get some rest. That’s an order,” Jack said.  
  
“Yes sir,” Sam said then glanced over at Kylee who raised her brows and exhaled then waved him off with a mock salute.   
  
Now it was just a waiting game, to see how this case all played out. Who the hell was in this reality, after them with a couple of robots? Somehow he knew he wasn’t going to like it.


	6. Where are the stars to guide me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year. Finally got this out. Lots of set up and angst. 
> 
> Space Aslan returns to explain himself. Jack finds himself in a political pinch and Sam has to pull out her maternal instincts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://sglostcharge.tumblr.com/ to do some AMA questions that I can draw. I do enjoy it.

The commissary didn't have that usual hustle and bustle that Kylee noticed during the first few days of being at the SGC. There was a gloomy haze over the men and women there as if the oppressive weight of the mountain was coming down on their shoulders. There was a chance that that description was more Kylee projecting her own feelings, but for the first time, she felt some measure of comradery with these guys.

That really didn't alleviate any of the guilt she felt for not reacting fast enough, but she wasn't about to bring it up, considering the hell that Jack or Sam would be giving her. There's no arguing with those people, they were dead set on taking the responsibility for it all.

So, as much as she enjoyed kicking herself, chin in hand watching the sobering state of the soldiers in the mess hall, she really needed a change of scenery. More, a distraction.

Smiling fondly, she stood. Maybe Daniel was up.

Daniel had sort of become a go-to, as he was basically the only non-military-civilian she knew which was probably to his dismay. After all, he didn't seem quite as interested in hanging out with her as she did with him. Kylee had a sense that she was just far too high energy for him.

With that thought in mind, she rose to her feet and retrieved two coffee cups before nodding to her escort and heading up to the archeologist's office. Ky ducked in and held the covered cup of java towards him.

"Good morning," she offered cheerfully. Daniel thankfully didn't really take part in the combat, so he was looking fine. She didn't blame him, there was really not much anyone could have done. They were lucky.

Especially considering the attack came and went in under twenty minutes.

Daniel looked up at the offering and cheerful smile and blinked. "Uh, hi. Good morning. Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary?"

Kylee tried to hide her grin and leaned back against his desk. "Are you saying you can't have a little company or is it just concern for my well-being?"

"You weren't in the best shape last time I saw you," Daniel replied.

"I got better," Ky said, slightly deadpan, smiling again when he took the coffee and she sipped hers before explaining further. "Speedster perks accelerated healing. Hairline fractures were gone in a couple of hours."

"Then what brings you here?" Daniel asked, setting down his pen to take a sip.

"I dunno, curiosity. Checking in," she said, as she really didn't have a concrete reason for coming here specifically.

"Then, you're bored?" he said, expression somewhere between exasperated, frustrated, and amused.

"Yeah." Kylee shrugged again. "I mean I could help."

"Not unless you're familiar with ancient Gaelic root languages," Daniel said, looking up to her with a patient smile. "But I might have something for you to do."

"Yeah?" she asked and took a seat in the other chair in the room, picking up one of the books and flipping through it. She couldn't even tell which language it held. There was no specific requirement for her to learn a second language besides programming syntax. It's not like it hasn't ever crossed her mind, given her field. On the other hand, trying to invent the universal translator or the Babelfish was an option.

Failing that, she'd just have to rely on Daniel Jackson.

"In one of your logs, you mentioned that there were gods in attendance at the Infinity Cascade. You think you can remember who they were?" Daniel asked her, and Ky looked up at him. Eh?

At first, it seemed like such a strange question until she thought back to some of the bizarre commentaries she'd heard. It was about as lowbrow as any sports arena from her perspective, but they did highlight some of those in attendance as if they were a big deal. She could barely count them all. Lowering her head and bringing a hand to her chin she tried harder to place a face with a name.

One vague memory involved a woman in scantily clad clothing coming to observe them in their quarters and she shivered. She looked at her like she was just a piece of meat or something. It's not like they had any privacy there.

It's just that it was too vague a memory to pinpoint.

Slowly, Kylee shook her head. "Getting spat out of the multiverse void scrambled the brain a little. There's… a lot to sort out, Daniel. I don't know if I could recall any specific names, not without prompting but even if you had a list, how am I supposed to know I'm not just filling in the blanks?"

Ky blinked and shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling of dread. "You know what that's like? Not being able to trust your own memory?"

"Yes, actually," he replied, watching her closely. "Actually one of our recent missions had all of our memories suppressed and stamped with an artificial persona."

"Adventurous bunch, you guys turned out to be," Ky said with a small smile. "How'd you actually get back to normal?"

"It didn't work on Teal'c, so he tried to get us to remember. We didn't believe him at first but it was enough to start doubting what we knew, or thought we knew. Later it was explained to us by the administrator who had gone rogue, but it still took a few weeks to get back to being ourselves." Daniel explained. "It's only been a week, it might take a while. Have you talked to Dr Fraiser about it?"

Ky found herself frowning apprehensively. "No. I haven't. But uh… why did you ask me about the gods?"

"I was wondering about why we were attacked. Or who attacked us," Daniel replied.

"Do you think these 'gods' are connected to the attack?" Ky asked.

"Maybe. Like Sam was saying last night, the robots didn't seem to be targeting you until you got in the way of the mission which would mean that they were attacking the SGC. And they used a common Goa'uld strategy to keep us from being able to escape so of course, you see where I'm going with this. " Daniel said at a pace that even impressed her. He wasn't wrong. What a terrifying thought.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts again, she looked to Daniel. "So, wait. What do Goa'ulds even look like?" Ky asked.

Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose. "As Sam might have told you, they use humans as hosts. Glowing eyes is a telltale sign of them, usually when they're asserting their will on the host or trying to demonstrate their power. They're generally… ah…dressed very lavishly although some might call it tacky."

"Tacky clothes would not be a good way to narrow it down, but maybe…" She thought back to the days when Zephyr would talk to his 'sponsor'.

"Maybe," Kylee conceded and set her coffee down. "A woman with glowing eyes, I remember seeing her, but I couldn't tell you who she was or what her name was. I just called her the wicked witch and I doubt that was very flattering. Maybe when Orion comes back we'll learn more."

"Wait, who is Orion anyway?" Daniel asked.

"Orion. Big glow in the dark lion that saved our bacon. Space Aslan," Kylee said, suggesting the last as it seemed to be catching on with the people here.

"No, I mean, who is he. What is he?" Daniel clarified.

"They are… his race? They're called Starborn. Basically a literal description, they were born from stars. Actually, as he tells it, photonic life is ridiculously common but they're rarely anymore sentient than bacteria and barely distinguishable from any other light particle," Kylee explained. "At some point, they came to Earth, became sapient, and became friends and guardians of the people of our planet."

"Well, that's interesting," the linguist seemed genuinely interested at least. "And he interacts with you?"

"You mean like our leaders? Get involved with the united nations and how we run things? No. They don't really actively get involved with us unless they think there's a need. They protect the Earth from big threats, like their own kind."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"It's complicated. Ah... like I haven't exactly met any of them, but some of them have been polarized, dark shifted is what they call it. They're supposed to be bad news." Ky explained. "But he does reside over his own chosen people, the Nemeans. Those, I've met a few. Good kids."

"Nemeans, like the Nemean lion?" Daniel repeated, then smiled.

"What?" She asked, suddenly interested in what made this super serious dude smile like that.

He chuckled softly. "Nothing, it just sounds like your life isn't so different from ours."

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Exactly how similar our realities are to each have a… my Mom and Sam…" Such an awkward thing to say, then she smiled coyly. "And big damn heroes from Minnesota?"

"Well that's certainly one thing you and Jack have in common, yes," Daniel mused. "Among other things."

"You keep saying that, Danny boy. We're not that similar," Kylee said in response to his teasing. The smile on Daniel's face didn't fade.

"And yet in the same breath, you say it exactly as he would," Daniel replied smoothly.

"It's really just the culture, Daniel. Really. Jack could fit the mold of every weird uncle or dad in the state," Kylee explained with a light shrug then sipped his coffee. "That cold tends to make you get some strange coping mechanisms. And he's getting on in his years, the older you are the weirder you get."

"Ah," Daniel said, then looking over her shoulder. "Hi Jack."

Ky glanced around and grinned sheepishly. "Aaah, hi, Colonel. The world ending or are we in the clear?"

"Yeah. Maybe. The eggheads are working that out. You sure you should be up dinking around already?" he raised his brows at her, then subtly smirked. "Looks like that shiner's already healed up."

"Yeah, I'm good," Kylee reported and reached for her cheek. The swelling had almost gone down when Jack saw her last night and disappeared overnight. She then smiled, addressing him with a quirked brow and sass fully engaged. "I'm keepin' out of trouble, but who knows how long that'll last."

"Then I take it you won't have any problem with an assignment," Jack said, grinning to Daniel, and Kylee looked between the two. Daniel just seemed to give up with an exasperated grin and return to his work. Ky returned her focus to the man who clearly intended to steal her away for something.

"Like what?" Ky asked suspiciously.

"Oh well, wouldn't that ruin the surprise? Now c'mon."

* * *

It was shockingly easy to pull together some hockey equipment on the fly. More than a few officers and staff played regularly off duty, and it was just a matter of putting his feelers out that morning, but Jack had managed it. With Carter under orders to take it easy, it fell to him to keep their little livewire occupied. It was only fitting that they'd hold their activities in the newly designated 'Brat Cave.'

Kylee shot him a look when he said it, while walking in through the access duct into the large undeveloped section of the base. Neglected and disused, with nothing but a paved floor, and if Carter managed to get this Kid home by some miracle it would stay that way. On his team, Teal'c took on the position of goalie, and Kylee had Captain John Hunter.

Hunter had been around for a while, currently on SG-12 and one of the guys Jack didn't mind putting up with. He had a knack for pushing it with the banter to be just skirting the line of insubordination. No doubt Hunter needed an outlet for the insanity they suffered the other day, so he won the lottery. He also ran out to get the equipment they needed.

"Who even knew about this place?" Captain Hunter asked while taking in the size of the room.

"Cold war mighta had something to do with it," Jack surmised. He didn't really think much of it other than it's the immediate practical use of helping Kylee wear herself out. Jack tossed the girl in question a brown plastic shopping bag and grinned. "Try that on for size."

She opened the sack, widening her eyes slightly as she pulled out an old North Stars Hockey Jersey and examined it. "Wow. Cool. It's so vintage."

"Maybe for you," Jack said, watching the girl pull off the BDU shirt she'd been wearing and ball it up to toss by the entrance before pulling the North Stars hockey jersey on over her head. If nothing else she was a good sport, and even with the shirt looking about a size or two big on her she grinned at him, raring to go.

"So, we all know the rules. Except for this one. If Sparky here uses her powers, our team gets a point," Jack announced, Ky rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"C'mon Jack, I'm still faster than you even without my powers," she said smoothly, taking her position, with Hunter taking the designated goalie post they'd marked with chalk and traffic cones. Just like the good ole' days.

Jack dropped the tennis ball signaling the start of the game, and Kylee knocked it away from him and darted after it. Quick, but no electricity so Jack couldn't count it. She made a b-line towards Teal'c and made a shot, but Teal'c repelled it towards him. He caught the ball expertly, from years of playing as a youth and started towards Hunter only to be intercepted by Ky, their sticks locking in a duel almost immediately.

The Colonel made a to keep her at bay before breaking away and making his shot. Right through Hunter's legs.

"Hunter!" Kylee complained, then smirked at Jack after she caught the tennis ball Hunter threw at her.

He wasn't going to get by her that easily next time. A few sorties later and the game was tied, two to two. Way to keep him on his toes, kid. Quite the workout, although she looked like she could keep going well into the afternoon.

"We need to do this on Ice," Kylee remarked, grinning.

"Maybe. Someday," Jack said. He was no slouch but trying to keep up with this kid seemed like a fool's errand. She was just too quick on her feet and endlessly energetic.

"Can't keep me locked in the tower forever, Jack. Not that it matters," she replied, then stole the ball from him.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Jack said, going to head her off before she got to the goal and duel her once again for the 'puck'.

"I mean I'm betting on a happy ending to this scifi epic," she said, getting the ball free of Jack's stick and taking a shot.

"Rarely ever happens, kid," Hunter shouted, while Teal'c caught the ball and tossed it towards Jack. "Kinda like how Jack keeps hoping for a winning season for the Blackhawks."

"Oh so we're starting that argument again? If the Blackhawks don't make it to the playoffs I'll buy you a beer," Jack replied.

"You're on," Hunter said with a smirk. "Hey, kid. Who are you rooting for?"

The kid rolled her eyes. "I don't know yet. Apparently not the Blackhawks. No love for the Wild, Jack?"

"This is their first season. Who knows. Except maybe the person who was around during that time. Don't think you happen to know any winning teams, doyou?" Jack asked with a wry grin, while he and the girl locked their sticks together once more. She kicked the puck away and tried to pull free to go for it, but he grabbed her around the waist to pull her back.

"Wait! No!" She squawked and laughed through a wide smile. He let her go and moved forward, grabbing the puck and pressing on towards Hunter to shoot the puck between the captain's legs. He didn't seem to be paying attention, however. It was only after he took the shot that he noticed the Captain grabbing for his sidearm.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c yelled urgently to draw his attention.

Jack turned around, eyes falling to the sudden burst of dazzling light in the room. Light which swirled around before taking form, manifesting into the shape of a lion the size of a minivan. The mane illuminated the room enough that the limited light granted by the utility lights.

"Stand down Captain!" Jack ordered, holding out his hand to prevent any reckless shots, but besides the point. Exactly what could they exactly do to this thing? Ky meanwhile raced to put herself in front of the massive beast and spread her arms.

"It's alright, Hunter. The big guy's with me," she said confidently, then turning on her heels to greet the lion.

"Hey! What took you?" she asked, going right up to him. The cat gave what qualified as a smile and pulled the girl in close with one massive paw which, as much as he didn't want to admit it, made his butt clench with apprehension in the same way it would if he'd witnessed someone introducing an excitable big dog to an infant. Seriously, that was a big honkin' cat! About as tall as Teal'c, proportionally just a lion scaled up to that height. White fur, an almost constant wave to his mane, like it constantly had the wind blowing on it. The kid withdrew from the hug, beaming ear to ear at the fuzzball. "Orion, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill. That's Captan Hunter and Teal'c over there."

"This is a military establishment, I see. They are treating you well?" Orion asked because of course, he could talk, and the kid nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I think you'd like these guys. They're definitely your kind of people." Kylee replied with a wry smile. "Look, you took care of the robot situation, right?"

The cat held up a paw. Seriously, _a. Paw_. "I will answer your questions in time. Now, Colonel, I request an audience with your leaders," Orion said, then glanced back to the girl. "Now that I know you are safe, we have much to discuss."

"Yeah. Sure." Jack turned back to Hunter. "Major, go inform General Hammond and have him and an escort come down here." He wanted to spare the general staff of the SGC a reason to question their sanity. The fewer people involved, the better.

"Yes, sir," Hunter said crisply and ran for the access duct. No way in hell they were gonna get the lion to fit through the duct anyway, what with him being a jumbo-sized throw rug.

"Look. Orion, I get you're this majestic higher power, and if you're taking the kid home, we're happy for her, she deserves it. Make sure she gets there in one piece. But we're gonna need some reassurance that these robot things aren't gonna become an issue," Jack pressed. Even if he wasn't the most diplomatic officer in the world, probably ranked dead last on most days, he still had to air out his grievances with the cat.

The lion's face tensed and he turned his gaze to Jack, eyes white and luminescent. Difficult to read, but it was expressive enough, enough at least that Jack could tell that there were some hesitation and regret.

Kylee reached under the big cat's chin as if she had the distinct privilege of acting so casual around Orion and the big beast brought her in close with his paw. Based on the expression the lion had now, Jack took it as a grandparent preparing to give the girl some bad news. "Hey, I guess we have a minute to catch up, huh? How's Matty and- Well I guess I'll find out soon, right? I'll just ask him next time I see him."

That smile faded almost instantly when she said that, then he sighed and pulled her close with a paw. "Kylee…"

Oh boy.

"Yeah?"

"I am deeply sorry, but you cannot return to our world," He said.

"What?" Kylee asked, her eyes widening and she stepped back as if she'd been slapped.. A silence fell between them, and Jack, being the man he was, had to break it.

"Why the hell not?"

* * *

The hot water and steam from the shower soothed Sam's aching muscles, cleared her head. It was a miracle she managed to get out of that situation without any more severe injuries. The extra hours of sleep prescribed by Janet, and time off would further speed her recovery. She dried her hair and helped soothe her aching muscles and clear her head. , and the extra hours of sleep Janet had insisted on did wonders. She dried her hair and took stock of the shoulder and side ache that lingered, thinking she'd have to heat it later or take some ibuprofen.

Sam dried and dressed, made herself presentable even though she was off duty until the next day. Stepping out of the locker room, she'd almost run into a familiar face.

"Daniel!" She said, nearly yelping. "What's the hurry?"

"Looking for you. General Hammond wants us down to the cave outlet. That… um," Daniel began.

"What, did something happen?" Sam interjected, a knot of worry forming in her stomach.

"Her friend's back," Daniel clarified. "He wants to meet us."

The outlet cave that had been designated for 'unspecified use' in the latest paperwork was in the lower, seldom used sections of the SGC. Sam followed Daniel down there without further questioning, and she knew that her presence would absolutely be necessary for this. She didn't want to speculate on exactly who this 'Orion' was, but even while Kylee trusted him and seemed to hold him in high regard, Sam was going to withhold her judgment until after she met him properly.

They met General Hammond, Captain Hunter, and a few SFs along the way and promptly traveled the remaining flights down to level 26. They entered through the access duct and once again, Sam was treated to a dazzling light show like a scene ripped out of a storybook. She didn't think it possible to understate it when the first thing that came to mind was CS Lewis. There, in the center of the cavern, sat a mountainous glowing beast that defied imagination, and it was in their base. Funny, they didn't usually encounter things like this on Earth, and seeing him again, well, it was a reality check.

General Hammond approached with herself and Daniel trailing behind. Jack stood with Kylee who looked as though someone pulled the rug out from under her, shaken, perhaps even defeated. Her head drooped forward, allowing her hair to cover her eyes, and Jack had his arm protectively around her.

"Orion, I take it?" the General asked.

"You presume correctly," Orion said, and remained seated, but he nodded much like Teal'c did, dipping his head as a sign of respect. It seemed he wanted to look as unimposing as possible in an attempt to be diplomatic. "I do not have much time, I'm afraid. I've met the people of the higher planes, which you call the Ancients, and they have dictated the terms of my being here. One is that I will be brief. However, with respect to the problem at hand, they have also pledged an alliance in an effort to prevent further outside incursions of the kind you have experienced."

"I take that to mean we won't be seeing any more of these machines that attacked us? Or similar technology?" General Hammond asked tentatively.

"Every effort has been made to prevent such technology from being perpetuated outside of the Infinity Cascade but there have been leaks. In the case of this reality, it is perhaps one of the most corrupted. The creature who created the Cascade, The Host, sought to seed chaos throughout the cosmos and cause as much entropic decay as possible. That is why there is a discrepancy in your timeline," Orion said gravely. "The future is in danger if the aberrations are not dealt with."

"Doesn't that make Kylee an aberration as well?" Sam asked. "She wouldn't even have been here if not for the Cascade, and all of this was caused by the aftermath of that event."

The Lion turned to her. "In a way, yes. However, her presence here may yet prove to be a measure to balance the odds in your favor. When Kylee faced the Host, the vile creature that he is, caused her to be wounded temporarily.. Her timeline has fractured, leaving shards spread throughout the multiverse. Only this one, has taken form," Orion said, turning his attention to Kylee.

The girl raised her widened eyes to the lion. "What are you saying? That I'm not even really me? That I'm just a piece of myself?"

The cat regarded her with saddened eyes. "Against all odds, you willed yourself into existence. That shows your will to live is stronger than the Host had anticipated. Your personal timeline is too fragile, and to leave this reality may yet prove fatal. Then there is the matter of the original. Were you to go home you may face death even then."

"Because there are two of them," Sam suggested, recalling what had nearly killed her own double a year prior. "Entropic cascade failure."

"Two of them with unstable timelines, born from the same timeline. It may eradicate them both. It seems that she has taken root in this reality." He looked again at Kylee and spoke as gently as possible, " You will be restored, but it will take time." Kylee listened but looked increasingly dissatisfied with the explanation. It wasn't the answer any of them wanted to hear, her going home to where she belonged was absolutely the best possible outcome for her. But if the cat spoke the truth, it simply wasn't in the books. pensive silence fell over the room. No one seemed to know what to do or say and Kylee just kept looking more and more heartbroken. Then, at the height of the tension, she bolted.

General Hammond turned his head towards the door, the corners of his mouth turning down sternly. "Get a security team out to track her. Orion, we're going to have to discuss some terms, she isn't going to be able to have a full life here if she's able to cut and run like that any time she wants. We have rules we have to abide by."

"I understand, and I have come prepared for such an instance, although I require the aid of Lady Carter," Orion said.

"Lady?" Daniel echoed.

"I was under the impression you were worthy of such salutation," Orion replied in his low gravelly voice. There was an air of nobility and power that Sam couldn't ignore, but at the same time, he was about as cheesy as any father figure could be. It actually annoyed her, even if the lion was acknowledging her status and her connection to Kylee. She didn't care about how 'worthy' she was.

Still, she was more or less obligated to hear him out, for the sake of their shared interest in Kylee. Moreover, she was absolutely convinced the only reason that Orion singled her out was that he recognized her as Kylee's family.

Unmoved by Sam's irritation, the lion pressed its foot against the ground and lifted it to reveal a small circular device and a small brick of metal. By the motion of the creature's head, he was inviting her to pick them up. She examined the small device, built as a sectional bracelet. It was also surprisingly flexible.

"What is this?" she asked, turning her head back up to him, only to be blinded by a bright light, and everything around her seemed to slow to a crawl, then stop.

"H-hey!" she gasped, looking behind her only to see Jack in quickstep towards the access duct, Teal'c heading over to Hammond and herself, the expression on his face saying he intended to stand vigil over the matters at had half-turned to follow Jack out to see what kind of help he could do and the General looked on with that inscrutable expression of his, all frozen in time.

"What's going on?" Sam demanded.

"Time displacement. I felt the need to converse with you in private," Orion replied. "You are… linked to the girl."

"I noticed. I take it you know her mother?" Sam asked.

"I know of her, yes. A very spirited woman, and just as valiant as her daughter," Orion said. Sam snorted mirthlessly at that, as much as she was interested in hearing about what this Allison Conners was like, it was far beside the point of this. "I require to speak with you, and you must not speak of this to the others."

"I might not be able to honor that. I am a member of this world's military and if I'm ordered to explain what you told me...," Sam protested.

"Then please keep what I am about to tell you to as few as possible," Orion said, moving to sit next to her. The warmth she felt just being next to her, radiating a constant heat that shouldn't have been possible with all the light he was giving off. The physics of these beings from the 'higher planes' were something she may never understand. At that moment, she put aside her annoyance and reached out. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, so she put her hand against the shoulder of this almost angel-like entity. What she felt was soft, but oddly so. In the same way that water felt soft, fluid, and airy, those were the words that came to mind. She realized then that Orion was, essentially, a projection of hard light. He was a hologram emitting force. He truly was living photons. That certainly explained the warmth that radiated from him.

"I cannot say if fate aligned in your favor, or hers. It is fortunate that she has come to be in a world where she has someone she may rely on. I sensed great unrest within her, no doubt the events of the Cascade weigh heavily on her heart," he said, then turned his head to her. "One day she will have a greater calling. It is that which I would have you prepare her for."

Sam knit her brows and frowned. "What do you mean? That sounds like you planned this from the start."

The great cat shook his head. "This situation is unprecedented, and now that she is here, you will need her as much as she needs you. What may be proposed has yet to be decided upon, but she is one whom we can trust with the task," Orion explained, offering a small smile. "She has great potential, Carter. Set her on the path, and she will achieve great things for your people before her time comes."

Her time? As much as she wanted to poke holes in this, she was almost certain the answer would be cryptic to the point of being meaningless. At the same time, she didn't think the lion had any ill will for them or ill intent for this fate he had in mind for Kylee. He just wanted her to rise to the challenge, to grow enough that she could embrace the purpose he had in mind for her. "I'll try." That was all she could commit to.

"You have my thanks," he said, then looked down at her. "Don't doubt the content of your heart, Major, or hers. And do not doubt your decisions. The future is not set in stone."

In a way, that put her at ease, his powerful, yet gentle voice resonating in her ears, and he turned to her, pressing his head into hers, with another flash of light. That suddenly, the world caught up with them.

"Major Carter?" General Hammond's voice gave her a start, and she looked into her hands and the object within them.

"Sir?" she turned around to look at General Hammond, then back at Orion, or where he'd been. He was gone.

"Orion has vanished," Teal'c pointed out.

"He spoke to me, Sir. He told me about how to use this," she said, holding out the piece of technology that the lion had gifted them. "This is a power inhibitor, it should significantly reduce her access to her abilities to the point that she is indistinguishable from any other human, although her physical attributes would still be in effect."

"And in that time he decided to leave. The president is going to love this," Hammond said wryly.

"He did pledge protection of our reality," Teal'c pointed out.

"And he saved us, sir. Without him, we wouldn't be here right now," Sam added and looked downward. "Right now we should focus on damage control."

"Agreed. Major, do what you must. We'll evaluate her status at a later time. Just do your best to get her settled in for the long term," Hammond said, then started toward the access duct. Sam turned her gaze back to where Orion had been, sighing softly as she felt the burden that Kylee may have on her shoulders one day, and walked to the duct herself so she could find Jack and by extent, the girl in question.

* * *

The day that Jack introduced her to the cave, the Colonel had mentioned that Kylee had inquired about another access duct. It was one of the few that lead to the surface and given the girl's propensity for feeling things out, detecting magnetic forces as well as generating them, it didn't take much to deduce that she would be able to find a way out. Sam knew this, but what she didn't expect was to find the girl standing at the edge of the access tunnel opening when she arrived. Sam reached up to pull herself out then withdrew her hand immediately. She'd been shocked. Kylee turned her head briefly to look at Sam and the two locked eyes for a moment and Sam tested the metal again, feeling the hair rise on her skin but she found it safe to proceed.

The metal cap that served as the access duct was hot to the touch, almost too hot to stand but she pulled her hand into her sleeve letting the durable fabric of her BDU block the heat from harming her. The major observed her for a few minutes, looking as the sun bathed the girl, almost making her blond hair glow, but it didn't diminish the anguish radiating from her.

"You didn't go far," Sam said and moved to jump off the access duct.

"Yeah," Kylee replied, looking out into the wilderness and taking in a deep breath

Predicting the actions of someone in crisis was far more difficult than predicting the orbits of celestial bodies. At least to her, anyway. People had a way of surprising you. Most people, when panicking, would run, but Sam could see it in the girl's eyes. She just didn't have anywhere to go, so it came back to square one. She'd been slowly crawling out of despair only to be thrown back into it. "C'mon. There's a trail back here, up the hill."

Kylee looked at her, confused, before she nodded, moving to follow Sam out on the dirt trail that winded into the mountain pass. Sam had done this a few times before, most of the time on her own. She led her back to a more official door to reenter the complex, but she was in no hurry to get there.

"How're you feeling?" Sam asked softly.

Kylee tried to hold back a sob and she shook her head. "I didn't…" she sighed and wiped her eyes. "I didn't think I'd get home, but I didn't think that was gonna be the reason. I…"

"I'm not real," she said after several moments of hesitation.

"Ky, you know that's not true," Sam argued, Kylee clutched at the fabric on her chest, over her heart.

"Isn't it?" Kylee demanded, looking at them both. "I'm… just a piece of myself. I'm just the remnant of an accident, and I feel it! I feel so empty inside. I'm just a shell. Don't you get it? Half of all I've been saying since I got here has been following your lead! God…there's nothing to me!"

Sam froze. She couldn't imagine what Kylee was going through, or what she was actually feeling. To have your body and mind, or your very soul compromised in such a way… She didn't really know what to do, not at first. Not until a distant memory of her own mother comforting her at a time of crisis did she realize what she had to do.

The Major turned on her heel and walked right up to the girl, grabbed her, and pulled her into a hug. Kylee clutched her jacket, and it seemed like gravity pulled them down to their knees, Sam guiding them down gently. Kylee sobbed against her shoulder, and Sam combed her fingers through the girl's hair to soothe her. It didn't escape her, the implications of the girl's words, potential disassociation, and was highly distressed. All she could do was hold her and let her cry it out.

"I know you might think that, but I don't think someone who was just pretending would have risked her life to save us. I told you, we're family now, remember?" Sam said, entwining her hand with one of Kylee's and pushing her wild hair out of her eyes.

"I don't deserve it…" Ky replied and tried to pull her hand away, Sam clasped her other hand over the girls and held them both to keep her attention on her.

"Shh. Don't talk like that, Ky. I know it doesn't seem fair, the fact that you came here because of your own will or intervention from powers beyond our control, or that decisions are being made for you, but none of that diminishes the fact that you are here and you are distinct. You're not just pretending to be something you're not. Even if that's what you think, anyone who has gone through what you've gone through could be pushed to do that. It's survival. And if it's actually true that you are missing something, we'll find a way to fix it."

A week ago she would have never guessed that she'd be sitting out here with her daughter from another reality, trying to save her soul. This wasn't really anything new for SG-1, as they went out of their way for people all the time, but this was the first time in a while she was so invested that she couldn't just detach herself from the situation. It certainly helped that Kylee had proven herself, and for her father pushing her towards building this relationship only served to cement her resolve in helping this girl. Now, she had an even greater purpose, but whether or not she'd follow Orion's guidance was ultimately up in the air.

"Sam…" She protested, pulling away. Sam sighed.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that?" Sam asked calmly.

Kylee looked away, so much anguish in her face that she just couldn't let go of. The pain and sadness just crept up into her, she tried to hold back a sob as if she was clawing at something like her pride to keep her from sinking further into despair. Sam took her by the face and turned her head up to meet her eyes.

"Look at me, Ky. You're here. You're real. And I know it hurts, I know you must feel like nothing matters but it does. And whatever we need to do to help you get through it, I'll make sure it happens," Sam said, pulling her back into a hug, letting the girl slowly pull her arms around her middle.

They sat there for a while, and Sam looked up at a twig snapping on the trail behind them. It was a few SFs, Teal'c leading them. She gave them the thumbs up and Teal'c gestured for them to back up. After a few minutes of them sorting themselves out, Jack stepped out from the winding trail, where he'd likely been for a while.

"Hey kid," Jack said, and Kylee looked up, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"Hey," she said hollowly.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"I dunno," she replied honestly, then looked up to Sam. Her eyes wet with tears but seemed to be clearer than before.

"That's okay. Y'wanna head back down the mountain?" Sam looked back up at her commanding officer as he said that and pulled her lips thin. That probably meant orders from the top. They wanted to secure the situation as soon as possible.

The girl hesitated and looked around, her eyes yearning for something. Freedom, likely. Sam could see her working it out in her head, that without some kind of compliance, if she left now she'd only complicate things.

"Ky, believe me. We'll work this out. But for now, come back down with us," Sam wasn't about to betray that trust shed worked up by using the device, she didn't even have it. The colonel did, but she doubted he'd use it either.

Slowly, through a shakey breath, Kylee nodded. "Okay." She said, her voice cracking. Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her back downstairs.

* * *

Sooner than later, Jack found himself standing in General Hammond's office, peeking out into the briefing room where Carter sat with the girl, talking things out. Hammond was still on the phone talking to the man in charge which Jack presumed meant the POTUS had been given the long and short of it by now. Luckily nothing had come of the lapse in their security measures but for now, it still seemed awfully tense.

"Yes sir," Hammond said into the red phone. "Understood. I'll pass it along."

The General hung the phone up and turned to Jack, looking up at him with his aged eyes. "It's been one hell of a day, Jack. "She'll be restricted to base for now, but we'll be working on getting approval for off base outings provided she's wearing the inhibitor, and presuming it works as described. That said, I've been ordered to incorporate her into the SGC and evaluated for combat."

"With all due respect sir, she's just a kid. She's as green as a first-year cadet. Not to mention our previous experience with superpowers didn't exactly end well," Jack said, feeling a bit put off about how cavalier the military was being with the life of a twenty-year-old civilian girl, even if he could see it coming.

"As was Dr. Jackson when he first joined the SGC. The fact of the matter is that his expertise is a significant part of why SG-1 has been so successful," Hammond said, tapping his finger lightly on his table while glancing sidelong at Jack. It didn't take a genius to tell that this conversation was already going to be a difficult one.

The Colonel kept his face emotionless, though. "That's true sir, but that was his choice. The top brass is so gung ho about using her as a weapon whether or not she even wants to be part of this at all. What's she gonna get out of it? For that matter does she get a choice?" Jack asked, crossing his arms. That point was much more contentious, given it was the matter of personal autonomy.

"Colonel, we were attacked directly, and if not for Orion's explanation, that girl may very well be waiting for an interrogation on the matter of whether or not she's involved with the Goa'uld or some other yet unknown hostile force," Hammond stated firmly.

There went his calm facade. Eh, it wasn't him anyway. "For crying out loud, Sir, who in their damn mind-"

"And you damn well know that it would have been out of my hands. We have no precedent for that attack, and for all, we knew at the time the story of the Infinity Cascade was a fabrication," Hammond declared just as fiercely, Jack shifted his weight and stood up straight, arms behind his back, as you do when you're verbally reamed for insubordination.

Hammond exhaled his jaw loosening, and turned his head down as if conceding the fact that they were in over their heads. "It's a hell of a situation to be in, and I'm doing everything I can to keep her here under our supervision but for that to happen she's going to have to participate in the program for the time being."

"The time being?" Jack asked with a touch of his usual candor, wading back into the waters, but he didn't let himself relax his posture yet.

Hammond frowned and folded his hands on his desk. "Until we can rule out her necessity. Beyond that, it's just a matter of being able to provide our superiors with a record of her conduct. We'll evaluate her compensation, but that's a discussion for another time,"

Jack knew that was a long shot, that they wouldn't let a potential military asset go that easily, and he wasn't even sure the girl would want to stay out of it. It felt like a mistake.

General Hammond continued. "The main concern is when, and not if, the Russians are made aware of her presence which may become an international conflict. She's a loaded gun, Colonel, we need to be pointing her in the right direction."

"With all due respect, sir, but she's in no condition to be pointed anywhere," Jack protested.

"But having her instituted as a member of this program ensures her protection from other interests going forward. Right now it's the best I can do," Hammond said solemnly and his eyes met Jack's.

"Yes sir. If that's the case I'd like to request a few days leave for the kid to settle in," Jack said, Hammond nodded.

"Agreed. Keep an eye on her, Jack. We're heading into uncharted territory, and that's saying something," The general said, but there's an all-team briefing tomorrow at 0900, otherwise you should have some time to get her up to speed. You're dismissed," Hammond said, and Jack hesitated a moment after glancing out the window at the kid and Carter.

He walked out of the room and observed them a moment. The kid had her head down on her bent arm, and Sam was channeling some of those maternal instincts she had bottled away just for occasions like this. She had the girl's free hand in hers and her other hand smoothed out her hair. Good to see that they were getting close, if nothing else it reinforced his opinion that the girl was on the level. The people in charge had a pesky habit of getting far too paranoid for their own good.

Sam looked to him as he approached the table and he took a seat across from the two of them and cleared his throat softly. Kylee turned her attention up to him, weary and drained of energy which was ultimately shocking considering they couldn't usually get her to sit still.

Jack cleared his throat as he took his seat. "I hear you've had some history with the Goa'uld."

"Maybe," Kylee said with her voice low. "I've only just started putting the pieces together. If I wasn't the target why attack Stargate command? It could be them."

"And that's what our superiors are going to assume until we rule it out. And we're going to need your help for that," Jack said, glancing up at Sam who creased her brows and let her lips tighten and frown. She didn't seem particularly happy with the news. Kylee took Sam's arm and pulled out from under it, meeting eyes with the older blond, then turning her head down to consider the question.

"I understand. Thing is, I figured it'd go that way. I must look like a shiny new toy to the military, so you don't have to sugar coat it. They're strong-arming you, right?" she said, searching his face, maybe for an acknowledgment that the situation sucked.

"If by that you mean, we've been ordered to bring you aboard, then yes," Jack said, tactfully leaving out some of the caveats and implications, but he knew the kid was smart enough to figure that stuff out for herself. "The sooner we track down whoever's responsible you'll be scott free."

"It's my mess, Jack, I gotta clean it up," Ky said grimly, dipping her head again and smiling.

"It's not like it's your fault," Sam protested.

"Doesn't matter, even if it's got nothing to do with me specifically. It could have happened even if I didn't make it here at all. Orion could have still saved the day, he seemed surprised to see me here," Kylee explained, keeping her eyes focused on Jack. "I have to do it because right now it's the only thing that feels right."

Jack fell silent, he had half-prepared himself to jump on the girl if she had said it was her fault, but she managed to lay it all down fairly eloquently. She was focused on the facts of the matter, which in a way reminded him of Sam when she was upset, but then there was another issue to overcome.

"This stuff about you not feeling like a whole person," Jack began and tapped the table with his finger. "Why'd you say something like that?"

"...God, as if I know…" She said and ran a hand through her hair, embarrassment flushing her cheeks. "I was upset. I just feel… hollow. Empty. How the hell am I supposed to feel after being told something like that? I-...I don't have the words."

"That you're not real?" Jack asked. "He didn't say that."

"He said I was a manifestation of a _piece_ of my timeline," Kylee said, lowering her hands to the table, palms up. Laying it all out, she just lost everything. That's how he took it, anyway. "That means they already have another me back home, and Orion's probably managed to piece her back together by now."

"Kylee…" Carter said, looking like, for once, she had no idea what to say. Seemed to be par for the course for these chats.

"Listen," Jack said to her, getting her attention.

"You keep focus on what you're missing, you're never gonna get it back. You'll keep circling back to that empty feeling, and that's a hole you're not gonna beagle to climb out of," Jack told her, maybe a bitter pill to swallow, but it was the truth.

Ky turned her head away, ashamed, probably of the way she felt. Like it was something she'd done wrong. She didn't need to carry that burden alone anymore.

"You want to be a superhero? You're not gonna be able to help anyone as long as you're stuck on this. So you say you've only been following our lead? Focus on the times you haven't and we'll work on filling in the gaps." Jack said, having to split the difference between CO and father figure, but not quite too much of the latter. She remained silent but looked to Sam, who smiled at her, and she smiled so slightly he almost missed it.

"Otherwise, I've got some good news and some bad news." Jack didn't sigh as he rose from his chair, but he looked tired.

"What?" Kylee asked, her eyes a little brighter than before. Hopefully, she's ready to take that first step.

"You're, as of this moment, a member of the Stargate Program," he said.

"Uuh, what's the bad news?" She asked, offering the slightest of smiles, and he knew he'd won this round.

"I'm your boss," he replied. "And it's 'Sir', from now on."

"Yeah, sure, Jack. I'm not military," Kylee said, giving him a long-suffering look, and he glanced at Carter and the two exchanged glances again. Already they were conspiring together. "Alright, fine, but only on special occasions, I guess."

"I'll take it. Anyway, kiddo, just spend some time with Carter here and we'll figure out the rest. Got it?" Jack asked, trying to keep the ball rolling, and Kylee nodded, her face filled with renewed determination. Sam nodded as well and took her hand again.

"I'll take her and test out the power inhibitor. I'm going to request I take her off base with me tonight," Sam said firmly as she pulled Kylee to her feet.

"Yeah, provided it works as advertised, Hammond said he'd approve it, Jack replied. "Get to it, Major."

"Yes sir," Sam said, leading the girl towards the stairs, the two of them speaking softly as they went. Jack knew they'd get along just fine, here on in. Aunt and favored niece, sisters, however, they wanted to play it. As for him, he'd probably end up playing 'dad' more than he really ever intended to, but that wasn't nearly as important as the march forward. It was all uphill, and she needed to stand with them.

Based on everything she had done, everything she had done, that he's seen of her, she could make it in this big, crazy universe they called home. Sure, they probably couldn't give her back everything she lost, but who could say they haven't lost, certainly their time in SG1 had left all their hearts a little leaner, but bit by bit they'd build each other back up, whole as can be and ready for whatever lies just beyond the next gate.

* * *

Apophis lay upon his chaise, stroking the hair on his newest slave who lay next to him, sleeping. It was not his Amuanet, but for a human, she was an acceptable beauty. He hoped in time, he would come to replace her with one of the women of Earth who had so troubled him or perhaps use them as a host for one of his many underlings.

The thought delighted him, with the humiliations dealt with him, to take the tau'ri team and make them kneel to him, kill O'Neill in front of them, and bring misery upon the rest. As for Teal'c, he had plans for him with the bountiful technologies he had acquired from Sokar.

A smile graced his lips. It would not be long until he had everything that was under Ra's domain. That-

He paused, suddenly, the metallic tinge in his human mouth, a slight prickling of the hair on his host's neck. There was another Goa'uld in the room with him. He sat up quickly and surveyed the room, and locked his eyes in a peculiar flicker in the air.

It alarmed him, and he raised his kara'kesh to fend off the intruder who dared to try to use a personnel cloak against him but right as he was about to launch a concussive pulse at his foe, he felt a searing pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a blade, one of his own, poking through from the back, his host's blood seeping through his sleeping robes.

The flickering form came into focus, a female Goa'uld, eyes dancing with amusement at his plight. He could not see the assailant, but it mattered not. He was at their mercy.

* * *

The scene set before Orion, seemed to him to be the catalyst of change, what lead to the world left in ruin. He had half a mind to step in, to stop these Goa'uld from seizing them, but these Altarans held him back, but that was all they could do. They could not banish him, keep him out of this universe, not completely, but they could keep him from acting if they acted as one.

Annoyed at their hold on him, he erupted in a brilliant pulse of his own power, shedding the hold they had on him for a moment so he could address him

"I could stop this in an instant. The timeline would unfold as it was meant to be, yet you prevent me. Why?" Orion demanded.

"You claim to be able to navigate the past and future as you please, that does not mean you can predict the consequences of every action. We allowed you to disrupt their operations which would cause cataclysmic effects, which may have already resolved the issue." One of them said.

Oma was nowhere to be seen. He was a great cosmic beast and yet at this time, he could feel the pressure he often placed on his human friends.

"And it may yet come to pass." Orion protested.

"It may. But we will not allow you to change the course of history to align with your desires to save one planet," another said.

"To save one girl," yet another.

Orion pulled back his maw in disgust. "And these Goa'uld will yet destroy more worlds, and you do nothing."

"It is neither our place nor yours to interfere with the affairs of the lower planes," they told him, as though it meant anything. These were beings who achieved access to a greater understanding of the universe, grander abilities than simple biological life forms. Their souls' given form, as it were. That did not mean that they existed somehow apart from the lower planes of existence, it was that they chose to ignore it.

Before he could protest, the collective united, in a way that he doubted that they would do even if there had been a dimensional crisis which would affect him, and at once, he found himself back where he began, in the plane of the infinity cascade where the structure remained afloat, but still in disrepair.

The fall out of this fiasco was far from over. It was just a matter of whether or not Kylee could manage to take those first steps on her own.


End file.
